Beauty
by Kellifer
Summary: The slave trade is alive and well on a planet SG1 visits and it seems Daniel Jackson will prove a valuable commodity. Small elements of DJan, SJ. Chapter 11 now posted. COMPLETE!
1. Beauty Chapter 1

Disclaimer - I do not own or operate any of the characters and events portrayed on Stargate SG1 and no money changes hands. I wish!

-Beauty-

Chapter 1 - Stranger In A Strange Land

"Christ!"

Jack O'Neill came to with a start. His head felt like it was splitting in two and his gut felt like he had been on a three day Indian bender. Sweat poured from his temple and he fought the urge to lie back down while he assessed his surroundings. He remembered the first few times he had been through the Stargate. It'd been like a roller coaster ride mixed with a really good spinning around in place. Carter had done... something scientific sounding and the ride had become a lot smoother. The feeling he had now was like the old days, but amplified by about ten times.

Jack went through his mental checklist of things to do when waking up on a strange world. Number one was always finding the other members of SG1. Number two was if they or he were in any immediate danger and number three would be to figure out just where they were in relation to the Stargate. Jack took a few deep breaths to try and stop the spinning in his head and looked around carefully. He had been lying on a thick bed of straw and he could see bars from where he was.

Not good.

"Carter?" Jack croaked. He desperately needed water and felt for his canteen. It wasn't there. His fingers automatically checked for his weapon next and he found that to be missing also. So was his GDO and walkie. Stripped of equipment and seemingly in a cage of some sort the roiling in his stomach got a little worse. His only hope would be that the others weren't in the same predicament and could bust his arse out. He looked around again and could see a booted foot sticking up out of the straw. He crawled carefully over to it and saw it was attached to a leg and then to the rest of Samantha Carter, laying face down. Jack shook her foot, knowing that Sam would usually come up from unconsciousness swinging or biting from experience. He heard her groan and sighed in relief. "Carter!" He barked.

"Sir?" Sam rolled over slowly and groaned again. "Oh god." She sighed, pressing her fists into her eyes. "I feel like I've thrown up _inside_ my head."

Jack grimaced at the imagery but was reassured that it was the same old Carter. He pulled himself up so that they were face to face. He didn't trust sitting up yet and was propped on his elbows. Carter regarded him. She was deathly pale, but Jack figured he would look just as bad, or worse considering the way he was feeling. "Daniel? Teal'c?" Carter asked.

Jack sat up slowly, the sick feeling in his head slowly receding and looked around the cell they were in properly. At first he didn't see anyone else but then he noticed that there was another cell right next to theirs and he could see just barely what looked to be Daniel lying prone on his back. Jack crawled over to the bars, not trusting his legs just yet and could hear the rustling of Sam doing the same. They both reached the bars to the adjoining cell at the same time. "Daniel?" Jack whispered harshly, not really wanting to draw the attention of whoever had put them in the cells to their conscious state just yet until they could formulate some kind of plan of escape or attack. He heard Sam make a small noise and he looked at her. What little colour she had had drained out of her face. He looked back at Daniel and saw what had distressed her. There was a splash of deep crimson across Daniel's temple and pooled in one eye and he hadn't responded to his name at all. "Daniel!" Jack barked a little louder, using the tone he had adopted to rouse Daniel out of sleep when he was being stubborn about waking up on missions.

There was no response.

Jack used the bars to pull himself to his feet, hoping that Teal'c would be in the cell with Daniel. Sam was reaching through the bars, her fingers mere inches away from the unmoving archeologist. She grunted in frustration. Jack couldn't spot the large Jaffa but risked calling his name anyway. "Teal'c!" He no longer cared if anyone heard. It was more important for them to be able to tend to Daniel. For all they knew, he was bleeding out, just out of their grasp. Getting no response, Jack dropped to his stomach and tried Sam's approach, reaching for Daniel in the next cell. His arms were longer but his fingers could just brush the material of Daniel's jacket and no matter how hard he strained, he couldn't get any kind of grip at all. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stir and looked around, knowing they were being watched.

Two men dressed in simple black stood at the cell bars on the outside, flanking a tall, lean, older man dressed in dark green. Jack wondered vaguely if he were G'ould, but the two obvious bodyguards by his side did not have the familiar tattooed foreheads. He had been watching Jack and Sam strain to reach Daniel with what looked like detached amusement. Jack pulled himself to his feet again and approached the front of the cell. "What the hell is going on?" He demanded. The man merely blinked and looked Jack up and down, making a dismissive gesture with his hand. "Mea Tar." He said and the two men by his side nodded in apparent agreement. Jack sighed heavily. "Ah great, not English and our linguist is out cold." Jack grumbled, his mind repeating the mantra _'not dead not dead not dead'._

The taller man moved to Daniel's cell as Sam came up beside Jack. "Our friend needs medical attention. He's bleeding." Sam hoped that even if they didn't understand her words, they might understand the pleading desperation in her voice. The man was gesturing at the cell and one of the guards opened the door and the two black clad men stepped inside. The man made another gesture and they grabbed Daniel under the arms and hoisted him to his feet. He was still out cold and hung limply between them. The tall man in green walked slowly around the unconscious archeologist, making thoughtful noises. He then stepped forward and pried open one of Daniel's eyes, grunting and smiling.

Jack felt his hackles rise. There was something _wrong_ with this whole situation. His protective instincts were kicking into overdrive. Jack couldn't be one hundred percent sure but he thought he was reading malice and excitement coming off the man in green in waves. The man barked a harsh word that Jack didn't catch and the two men in black roughly stripped Daniel of his jacket and the t-shirt underneath. "Hey goddamit!" Jack cried, throwing himself at the cell wall. He could dimly hear Sam protesting as well but couldn't make out specific words through the red haze of rage that was rising within him.

The man in green was ignoring them both, instead concentrating on poking and prodding Daniel, nodding and smiling. He then jerked his head and the two men in black dragged Daniel out of the cell and down a corridor. Jack kicked the bars in frustration, his steel caps making a hollow ringing noise. Sam had lowered herself back to the floor, holding her head in her hands.

xxxxxxx

"Am I dead... again?"

Daniel had come to slowly to a bright light and a figure leaning over him. The figure was a slim girl with dark hair and snowy white wings. There was a sick pounding in Daniel's head and he vaguely thought it would be unfair to be in heaven, stuck with a hangover. "Not dead." The girl said matter-of-factly and Daniel felt a warm cloth pass across his forehead. Daniel was up on his feet with a start before the girl could react and Daniel fought the urge not to collapse, his body hadn't been ready for the sudden movement. The girl stood slowly, a red stained cloth in her hand and Daniel touched his forehead lightly and then brought his fingers in front of his eyes. They'd touched a tacky wetness and he realised the red stain had to be his blood. His fingers walked over his temple and found the deep gash just above his left eyebrow. He winced when he touched the spot.

"I must fix." The girl said, tapping her own temple.

"I'm sorry, where exactly am I?" Daniel turned about. He was in a simple room with a single bed and a chair. There was a heavy looking door and no windows. It looked as if he was in a slightly upper market cell. Daniel crossed the room, heading for the door but the girl darted in front of him, barring his way. "No, must fix." She said, tapping her temple again. Daniel stopped. "Um, thanks but I need to find my friends. Do you know where they are?" He asked.

"No friends now. Owned." She said, swiping at his head with the cloth. Daniel batted her arm away and stepped sideways, trying for the door again. He reached it successfully and turned the heavy brass knob. Nothing happened. "Okay, let me out of here."

"Can't." The girl said and shrugged. "Now sit. Let me fix." She gestured toward the bed. Hoping to get more out of her by being compliant, Daniel nodded and crossed to the bed, dropping onto it and letting the girl resume her ministrations. He didn't know what was on the cloth she was tending him with but it was sweet smelling and was making the raging headache he had recede to the background. "Look, I really need to find my friends." Daniel began again. The girl's eyes dropped from his temple to his own and a look of consternation crossed her face. "No friends. Owned." She repeated, sighing in exasperation, as if talking to a particularly dense or stupid child. Daniel grasped her wrist, halting her careful tending. "What do you mean by that?" He asked her, worry stirring within him.

"You are owned. No friends. Owner only." She said again, repeating herself slowly. Daniel's grip tightened on her wrist and the girls brow creased in concern.

"I don't really get what you mean, but I'm not 'owned' by anyone and I would have come here with three other people." The seed of worry that had grown within Daniel's mind was working up to a really good fear that something had happened to Jack, Sam and Teal'c. The girl's face cleared though and she nodded. "Woman, older man and scarred belly?" She prompted. Daniel blinked, but then realised that she meant Sam, Jack and the scarred belly had to be Teal'c.

"What's your name?" Daniel prompted, hoping against hope that he could get this girl on side. She was tending to him in a locked room. He was praying that she was a servant that would be permitted to _leave_ the locked room. He doubted he would be able to. "Arie." She replied and then looked to the wrist Daniel had been squeezing tighter without realising it. He dropped her hand with an apologetic smile and she tucked it into her body. Her wings trembled and Daniel realised for the first time that they weren't actually part of a costume she was wearing, they were part of _her_.

"Arie." He began when he'd partially recovered from the shock that he was looking at a _winged_ _human._ "I need to find my companions. I need to get out of here."

Arie was shaking her head. "The scarred one has already been placed in the labour pits to be sold. The woman is being assessed and the older man will most likely end up in the labour pits too." She said.

"What do you mean assessed?" Daniel's concern for all three of his companions was equal, but he prompted further information about Carter's fate because the other two were fairly self-explanatory. All he had to do, he mused wryly, was find a way out of the cell he was in, find these 'labour pits' and stage a daring rescue. He wished that Jack were the one in his position. He thought Jack would have probably already found a way out of the room and be on his way to save them all. He just had to get a better idea of where Carter was.

The girl was starting to look worried about the questions she was answering and had stood up. The last thing he wanted was for her to retreat. He stood up with her and captured her hands in his own. "Please. I need to save my friends." He said. Arie looked torn, looking towards the door and back at Daniel. She seemed to come to a decision. "When enslaved you can either be sold as labour or for quick pleasure -" Daniel winced, not wanting to think what that meant "Or as more expensive companion or most valued host." She said.

Daniel felt himself grow cold with her words. "What do you mean by host?" He could guess, but he didn't want to.

"Those that come in ships to buy the prettiest. My master chooses the best and adorns them and those that come in ships pay much." She offered in way of explanation. Daniel felt his heart sink. Obviously this girl's master was dealing humans to the Gou'ld. It seemed slavery was alive and well. Only the best and... something else bothered him. "What do you mean by adorned? Dressed up?"

The girl before him chuckled. "No, no. Adorn." She said and raised her wings.

Daniel blinked at her. "And I am..." He prompted, guessing by the room he was in that he wasn't likely destined for the labour pits. It scared him to think that he might be classed as 'quick pleasure' and he didn't like the sound of that. Arie sighed as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I prepare you to be adorned." She said simply. It took a second for Daniel to realise what she meant.

"Wait, you mean ?" He stammered.

Arie was nodding. "Host." She said, touching a palm to his chest.

"Oh crap."


	2. Beauty Chapter 2

Disclaimer - I do not own or operate any of the characters or events portrayed in Stargate SG1.

Chapter 2 - Realisation and Damnation

Although purported to be brilliant, Daniel would have given anything to swap his 'brilliant' brains with Jack O'Neill at that moment. He'd been left in a locked room all alone and didn't think there were guards outside, yet he was at a complete loss as to how to escape. True there were no windows and only one door but Daniel was sure that either Carter, Teal'c or Jack would have been capable of thinking their way out of the situation. He paced the room. Being a linguist and archeologist wasn't much help when being held prisoner, he mused wryly. He wished, not for the first time, that his talents lay in more practical areas.

Daniel had felt clumsy, awkward and out of place for most of his life and although, unbeknownst to him, no one at the SGC thought of him that way, anymore at least, he still sometimes felt like the geeky, bespectacled kid who was constantly getting in the way at his parent's digs. The first time Jack had met him he'd been quick to label him useless and a nerd. Daniel had never felt more like Jack was right.

He realised he had a habit of being rescued and in his current state, was ignoring the fact that he had done a lot of the rescuing lately. He was frustrated and angry with himself and not thinking rationally. He was also getting fuzzy headed and started to bump into the bed when pacing the room...

Crap.

Daniel noticed a small vent in the bottom of his cell and knew that his muzzy headedness was probably due to something being pumped into the room. As he got closer to the vent he could hear very faintly a hissing sound. He was being gassed. Daniel felt panic grip his heart. He still wasn't quite sure what they wanted to do with him and he had a moment of blind terror when he felt sure that they had decided he was useless and was just getting rid of him like a rat in a trap. He let the fear take over for a few seconds, and then breathed out slowly, banishing it. He realised there _were_ some things that he had learned off Jack O'Neill.

_"You don't ever get scared do you?" _

_"Sure I do." Jack had been reloading his M90 with skilled fingers. Daniel had known Jack could probably do it blindfolded and Jack had reinforced this idea when he had gazed at Daniel while his hands still moved with precision. "You never look like you're scared." Daniel had disagreed, thinking Jack was just trying to make him feel better. Daniel had pulled his own smaller handgun out of the holster on his hip and had looked at it. It hadn't looked like it had fit in his hand properly. He had thought to himself that his hands were made for tools, not weapons. He hadn't known back then, all those years ago, how accustomed he would get to hold a firearm and how much that would pain his friends to see. _

_"Just means I'm a good actor, not less scared than you are." Jack had grinned that devil-may-care grin of his that had always made Daniel think, no matter what the odds were against them, that everything would work out just peachy keen and in their favor. "Look." Jack had continued, his hands finally stilled and loosely gripping the weapon in his lap. " If you try to be... I don't know... brave all the time, you'll drive yourself crazy. You let the fear in; you just don't let it take over. Fear drives our instincts. It makes us duck when someone is shooting at us, stops us dead in our tracks when something just doesn't _feel _right. Good things to do. Let the fear in, listen to it, and if it's being unreasonable, push it aside. You're a brainy guy, you'll know when fear is talking bananas." _

Daniel glanced around the room, trying to find a weapon of some kind he could secrete somewhere on himself to use if he came to and wasn't in a locked room. He could feel a black abyss encroaching on him and fought it. He finally noticed through the haze that although the single chair in the room was bolted to the floor, one of the bolts had worked loose and was almost entirely unscrewed from the chair leg. Daniel dropped to all fours and worked it loose from it's mooring. It wasn't much, but the end of it was jagged and it was something he could grip in his fist. Daniel twisted it into the fabric of his sleeve.

A few seconds later he wondered when his head had gotten so heavy and rolled sideways. He heard the door to his cell open and his last thoughts were that it was his chance to try and escape, if he could just sleep for a few minutes first.

XXXXXXXXXXX

The good news was that he had found Teal'c. The bad news was that he had now lost Carter.

The men in black had come back and both Jack and Sam had been ready for them. They had managed to take out both bodyguards but eight more had appeared out of nowhere and a few touches with a wicked looking black stick that must have been a tazer of some kind, and both he and Carter were back lying on the straw, trying to stop from vomiting and passing out at the same time. They had both been dragged from the cell and Jack knew he must have lost the fight to not pass out for a little while because when he opened his eyes again he was somewhere worse, and he hadn't thought that possible.

He was now in another cell but there was no straw this time, just dirt ground and a lot of other people packed in so tightly that sitting down became an object lesson in negotiating with your fellow man. The only good thing about his current position was that he had seen a gleam of gold from across the room and knew it could only be coming from one source. "Teal'c!" He'd called our hoarsely. He'd seen the gold flash side to side and the deep voice of one of his most trusted friends rumbled out of the darkness, answering with his name. Jack had never heard anything so welcome.

They'd managed over the next hour to work their way awkwardly across the large room until they were side by side. Teal'c sat cross-legged so that Jack could stretch his legs out straight. It wasn't just kindness that prompted the Jaffa to make Jack more comfortable than he was himself, he knew the Colonel's knees were bad and didn't want the man hobbled if they needed to fight. It had been a silent agreement between the two and testament to how close they had become over the years and the deeper understanding they shared.

Jack had just finished explaining to Teal'c what had happened to Daniel and Sam but what he hadn't voiced, and what Teal'c had understood anyway, was how worried he was about both of them. Teal'c had then elaborated that he had been in the same jammed cell since he had awoke hours earlier. They had both sat in contemplative silence for a time until Jack had looked at Teal'c, his eyes finally adjusted enough to the dim light to make out the larger man's face and had grinned wryly.

"I got nothing. How about you?"

XXXXXXXXXX

Sam would give anything to get her fatigues back. She'd been dressed in a light gauzy shirt and a long skirt. She looked down at herself and grimaced. "Stupid skirt." She muttered and set about ripping off approximately a foot off the bottom so she wouldn't trip if the opportunity arose to either run for it or beat someone up so she could escape. She'd woken up in a pleasant looking room with five other women, all of whom a similar size and colouring to her and all of whom were studiously ignoring any attempt she made to talk to them. She wondered if they were being watched somehow but a circuit of the room proved fruitless in finding any evidence of it.

She noticed one of the women, probably the youngest in the room, watching her with interest as she modified her outfit. "You shouldn't do that." The girl said, her voice barely above a whisper. Sam crossed the room to sit by her. She needed information if she was going to find a way out of her current predicament and the younger woman was the only one to have even attempted to communicate. "Why, do you get in trouble if you mess with the clothes?" Sam asked. She scanned the room again quickly, taking stock of the dimensions and if there was anything she could use as a weapon. She'd tried the door already but the obvious presence of guards outside how deterred her from making to vigorous an effort at getting through it. Sam looked back to the girl beside her and there was a concerned frown on her face. "No." The girl was shaking her head. "You don't want to stand out." She glanced about to make sure none of the other women in the room were looking in their direction and then pulled a small vial from under her shirt. She twisted off the cap and proffered it towards Sam. What was inside looked like dark brown eye shadow.

"What?" Sam started but the girl but a finger to her lips.

She then placed one finger on top of the vial and brought a smudge of the dark brown towards Sam's face. Sam shied back, but then her eyes ticked to the girl's face and she noticed something for the first time. The girl would have been a real beauty but that she had dark circles under her eyes, making her skin look pallid and unhealthy. Her hair hung limply around her shoulders that were slumped as she sat, hiding her figure. Sam leaned forward again, willing to risk this girl's ministrations and her suspicions were proved correct when the girl daubed a little of the brown shadow under each of Sam's eyes. She then reached forward and smoothed Sam's hair down against her skull and rubbed some of the brown shadow through it. The girl sat back to look at her handiwork. "The others try to be picked. They think they will be companions. I heard one of the guards speaking. We are for cheaper pleasure than that." The girl explained in a harsh whisper. Sam blinked at her, an icy knife of fear running down her spine. "What do you mean?"

"The master here trades all kinds. He fills these girl's heads with tales of how they will be bought by the richest of men and treated like princesses. Some are, but not from this room. These rooms are filled with girls who are deemed too much trouble or too homely to be expensive." Sam looked carefully at the girl in front of her. With her hair clean and face fresh, she would have had to have been deemed trouble to have ended up where she was. Sam wondered if knocking out the guards that had come to get her and Jack had put her in that room as well.

Jack!

"Where do they keep the men, males?" Sam asked.

"Men are not sold like us. They are either bought as companions or go straight to the labour pits. If we are not bought within three days, we will be put down in the pits too."

"That doesn't sound good." Sam grimaced.

"Better. You'll survive longer. You'll be bought for manual labour, true, but you have a chance at being treated decently. Bought here, you end up in flesh palaces." The girl mirrored Sam's grimace, which had deepened at the term 'flesh palace'.

Just then, the door was unbolted and swung open and a portly man entered, making a quick sweep of the room with his eyes. He clucked, shaking his head, before approaching where Sam was sitting. He made a disgusted face before hauling the girl up by the elbow. "Pits." He barked and one of the guards on the door came and retrieved the girl, who looked horrified for the man's benefit, but as she was being led out of the room, flashed a relieved eye at Sam.

Sam pulled her legs up to her chest and hugged her knees. If she didn't think of something soon, it would be a long three days.

XXXXXXXXXX

Daniel was lying face down on a cold metal table. His traitorous body wouldn't accept any of his brain's commands and he could only turn his head from side to side. He finally focused on the room's only two other occupants. One was a tall, thin man in green and the other was an elaborately dressed...

Gou'ld.

Although he hadn't heard the voice, he was certain from the outlandish outfit that the woman gazing at him in interest was definitely a Gou'ld. She crossed the room to Daniel and although he could only feel ghosts of sensation, he could feel her hand firmly rest on his back. "How old?" She asked the man in green and for a crazy second Daniel was going to answer for himself, but it seemed that his vocal chords were being as unresponsive as the rest of him. The man smiled. "Thirty cycles we think. We know you like a little character to the face." He said. Daniel saw the Gou'ld lower herself so she could gaze into his face. One finger traced his brow.

"Yes. You have outdone yourself. He is perfect for what I need." She smiled back, the strange double-voice rolling over Daniel and chilling him to the core. "I saw the attendant. Are you able to do the same to him?" She asked.

"Yes." The man nodded once.

"Good. I want it done immediately. I will take him when I leave in a few days."

Do what? Daniel wanted to ask but still he couldn't move. He could feel pins and needles begin to chase up and down his arms and legs and was on his way to being relieved that the numbness was subsiding when he saw another man enter the room, carrying a tray of wicked looking surgical instruments. A scalpel was raised in deft fingers and Daniel realised with horror that the effects of whatever they had given him to keep him still was wearing off.

When the scalpel sliced into his back, just under his shoulder blade, although Daniel could hear himself screaming in his mind, all that echoed into the room was a pained whisper.


	3. Beauty Chapter 3

Disclaimer - The characters and events portrayed in Stargate SG1 are not owned by me but I do borrow them for stories.

Chapter 3 - Reuniting

Jack O'Neill was covered in blood. The only good thing about the situation was that it wasn't his, or Teal'c's.

The two men were hiding in a tiny room in the bowels of the complex they had been prisoner in. They'd been lying low for hours, biding their time. Jack was pained by inactivity but he was also realistic enough to realise that if they kept their heads down for as long as possible, just maybe the fact that they were free would not be discovered long enough for them to find both Daniel and Sam.

Jack winced when he shifted position. He was pretty sure he'd twisted his knee and was trying to get the circulation flowing through the limb again. Anything to take his mind of what had happened only a few hours before. After whispered discussion with Teal'c they had both come to the conclusion that they didn't dare wait to be moved or for guards to come to attempt escape. They had no idea where Daniel or Sam were or what was happening to them and the longer they were all apart, the slimmer the chances that they were still all on the same _planet _Another of the men in the cell they had occupied had told them of buyers coming from far and wide, beyond the stars, to make their purchases.

So they had started a riot. That many people pressed so close for so long was a ticking time bomb in any case, Jack and Teal'c had just given it a little nudge. The adjoining cells had been caught up in the frenzy and the guards had had no choice but to come in and try to calm eveything down, or, Jack supposed, explain to their masters how they could have lost so much precious cargo. Jack and Teal'c had escaped in the melee but instead of making a beeline for the exits, as other prisoners had who were quickly rounded up, had instead gone deeper into the complex, knowing that their one chance lay in being patient and waiting until security relaxed and the guards were sure they had rounded up everyone.

Who was still alive that was.

There'd been deaths, Jack was pretty sure about that. The old soldier within squashed any feelings of regret, to be dealt with later. He had to concentrate on the possibility that Gou'ld would frequent a place like they were in and if any of them fell into Gou'ld hands then potentially billions of people were at risk. An old commander of Jack's had once said "I'm not trying to save everyone, just a majority." and although the words had sounded callous and awful to a young and inexperienced Jack O'Neill, he had, over the years, acknowledged that there were times when truer words had never been spoken.

Teal'c had said something in a low voice and Jack realised he had been drifting off. The others joked that he could sleep anywhere, as was evidenced the number of times he'd kipped in one of the plastic infirmary chairs while waiting for one of his team to wake up from their latest concussion, mostly Daniel, and he had to admit to himself that the life he had led meant that his body would mistake any kind of stillness for a chance to catch a few winks. "What?" Jack asked.

"I believe we may be able to venture out now O'Neill. We dare not wait any longer or risk discovery."

Jack nodded, letting the Jaffa pull him to his feet and he tried to ignore his knee's protests. Teal'c had managed to liberate one of the tazers from a guard on their way out of the riot and it was currently the only weapon they had. Teal'c had handed it over to Jack without a word and Jack had accepted it. Currently, the larger man would be much better hand to hand.

"Let's find those errant brainiacs of ours." Jack said, his voice filled with scary cheer. Teal'c nodded once and they headed out into the darkness with absolutely no idea where to start looking.

xxxxxxxxx

Upon waking, Daniel ran through a mental checklist, first wiggling toes and then fingers and then slowly opening his eyes. He was back in the room he had first woken up in and was reassured that his body was finally responding to commands. He figured he had passed out halfway through whatever was being done to him and his mind shied away from remembering the pain. He wasn't really ready to deal with what had happened yet.

Instead he lay still, listening to the quiet around him. Every now and again he would hear the sound of footsteps passing by his door, and his whole body tensed and only relaxed when the sound faded away again to nothing. He dreaded the very idea that he would be stuck in that room, waiting for a Gou'ld to come and take him but he still hadn't thought of a way to liberate himself and his hopes for a rescue were slowly fading the more time passed. He didn't even know if the others were still ali-

No!

His mind shied away violently from the very possibility that Jack, Sam and Teal'c weren't out there somewhere, safe and plotting his rescue. Or at least safe.

Daniet let his arms drop off the sides of the bed he was lying on. He didn't trust his limbs yet to attempt to get up and let the cool tile of the floor work through his fingers to reassure him that they truly were responsive. His fingers brushed something soft and he grasped it and brought it up in front of his face.

It was a feather.

"Huh." Daniel breathed, wondering if it had been left behind by Arie when she had been in the room. The whole idea of a human with wings was still a little surreal to him and he was wondering vaguely if she could actually _fly_ when something occured to him. Arie's wings had been white and the feather he was now toying with was black.

Daniel's other arm came up slowly and bent backwards, searching for his own back. He was thinking vaguely of the first slice of the scalpel which had entered just below his shoulder blade and when his hand stilled in mid exploration because he found something on his back that shouldn't be there, he was glad he wasn't standing because his legs turned to water.

"Oh Fu-"

xxxxxxxx

"-uck!" Sam had come to another dead end. She was trying to navigate the tunnels under the complex she'd been imprisoned in, but was having trouble because she dared not use any kind of light and the owners of the place seemed to save on energy bills by leaving unused parts of the complex with no illumination whatsoever.

Sam had contemplated waiting the three days to be moved to the labour pits for a whole thirty minutes before deciding she really needed to get out of that room _then._ She had called for a guard and had managed to take out the one that came through the door with a quick upper-cut to the throat. She would have been knocked out by the second guard coming through the door if the other girls in the room had not taken it upon themselves to converge on him at once. Sam had left them to take out their anger and frustration of their situation on the two hapless guards and knew there wouldn't be much left when they were finished.

Sam shuddered. She figured most of these girls had been slaves for the better part of their lives and abused for just as long. The pure hatred and anger in their attack had scared Sam and although she had tried to get them to come with her, attempt an escape, they ignored her as they had done in the room. It was almost like she still didn't exist for them, merely presented a distraction to their otherwise horrible lives. Sam had had no choice but to leave them, knowing that more guards would be on the way.

Stumbling blindly through the darkness, with her thoughts somewhere else, it scared her badly when she came up against what felt like a large man. She automatically hit out, but felt her wrist caught in a strong grasp. "Major Carter." A gruff voice spoke and Sam almost cried in relief. She'd never heard a more beautiful sound in her life than that of Teal'c's voice right at that moment. She felt the pressure release on her wrist and she threw her arms up and around where she figured the large man's neck would be. She heard a rare, throaty chuckle as she was quickly squeezed back. "I am pleased to find you also." Tealc said.

"Do I get one of those?" Sam's vision was starting to adjust to the minimal light and she saw the vague shape of what could only be Jack O'Neill come around Teal'c. Sam grinned and released Teal'c, only to grab Jack to her. He hugged her back fiercly. "Fancy meeting you here." He said.

"How?" Both Jack and Sam began at the same time and then both laughed self-consciously.

"Perhaps explanations would be better left to another time. We still have to locate Daniel Jackson and affect an escape." Teal'c broke the jovial mood, reminding them all that their team was still incomplete and one member's fate unknown. They would be celebrating right when Daniel was being tortured, or worse and it was a sobering thought. "Weapon?" Jack prompted, showing the taser he had in his own possession. Sam brought up the taser she had managed to relieve her guard of and Jack smiled in the dim light.

"That's my girl."


	4. Beauty Chapter 4

Disclaimer - I do not own or operate the characters and events portrayed in Stargate SG1 - but I do borrow them for stories.

Chapter 4 - So That's What Adorn Meant

Daniel Jackson was man enough to admit that he had freaked out... just a little.

He had now been sitting calmly for a little while, trying to reconcile what had happened to him. He'd been tortured, abused and _killed_ and yet nothing had worried him as much as the most recent development in the ongoing saga of what had been done to him since joining the SGC.

_"So you're thinking why you right?" _

_"I hadn't been, but now that you mention it I am."_

_"Well, you're obviously much too pretty." _

_"Sam!"_

_"I'm serious Daniel. Maybe you just need a really good scar or something.."_

_"Give me a break!"_

_"Maybe just a little acid in the face..." _

She'd been joking while they were on mission, to break the tension. Sometimes Sam's humour tended towards the darkside, something Daniel was sure she'd picked up from Jack. It couldn't be as simple as the way he looked could it? Maybe, he mused. Great, Daniel Jackson, team Damsel in Distress.

Daniel knew his mind was wandering to avoid thinking about the _other_ thing. Or _things_ to be more accurate. It wasn't every day that you woke up and somebody had changed the way you looked so signifigantly. There was no mirror in the room so Daniel could only look at the tiled floor beneath him to get an idea of what he currently looked like.

Face the same. General body area just as it was. Then there was the two large black wings that arced out from just below his shoulder blades. He had been hoping they were merely decorative so he could just get them removed if, make that _when_, he finally got out of there. Then he'd moved them. It had been as natural to him as raising an arm or lifting his leg. He hadn't even really thought about it. He'd just extended them because he was trying to see them better.

That worried him.

_Adorn._

That's what Arie had said. He hadn't really understood what she was getting at and had assumed that she came from a race of humans that had evolved wings for some reason or been changed at the genetic level by the Gou'ld. She'd probably been perfectly normal when she was taken as a slave, Daniel thought. They'd never come across a Gou'ld that had had such a dramatic change to the human form, but it didn't mean they wouldn;t in the future. Daniel had the sneaking suspicion, however, that it was a recent development. With the Jaffa rebelling by the hundreds and threatening to become thousands, not really believing that the creatures controlling them were gods, the Gou'ld seemed to be getting creative. A more _physical_ manifestation of their godhood was required and this was the place that must have been obliging them. Considering the Gou'd's attempts at making a more advanced human was still in the early developmental and frequently disastrous stage, they seemed to have gone for a quick, bridging fix to their current predicament.

"Why me?" He breathed

xxxxxx

"Okay, I got nothing."

Sam had been hoping that her efforts at navigating the rabbit-warren of tunnels under the slave complex would vastly improve with the presence of Jack and Teal'c but she was pretty sure they were actually _more_ lost than when they started. They had tried Jack's maze theory of always turning left for a little while but all it had done was run them in circles. He'd grumbled something about it always working when there were hedges involved and then they'd trooped on in moody silence. Teal'c had been smart enough to mark the way they were going by scraping a piece of stone he had found on the wall, but all it was doing was showing them that they were managing to go in circles.

"We need a way up." Sam sighed, running her hands through her hair in frustration.

"Perhaps - " Teal'c began and paused when Sam and Jack both turned tired, desperate eyes on him. "Perhaps the entrances to other rooms and passages are actually flush against the walls, which is why we cannot find any doors."

"Better than any ideas I've had in the last little while." Jack said and began running a hand along the wall beside him, tapping on it every few feet with the end of the taser. He'd only gone a few metres when the knock deepened, indicating a hollow space. "Well, slap me silly and call me Susie!" Jack exclaimed. He pressed on the wall and there was a click and a section of the wall swung inwards. There was a corridor stretching away into the distance on the other side.

After more twists and turns and another hidden passage later, the three free members of SG1 came out into a lighted corridor and froze. At the other end was a girl standing, mouth open as she had seen three people just emerge from a wall. Sam, Jack and Teal'c were all standing in shocked silence because they were waiting for the girl to scream or otherwise give their position away. Jack was thinking that he didn't want to break the paralysis of indecision she seemed to have been struck with but knew she was just a little too far out of reach to be able to get to her before she could yell for help.

Her eyes were darting back and forth between them, but then seemed to focus on Jack's arm and her hand raised up and tapped where Jack's SG patch was. "Daniel." She said. Of all the things that could have come out of her mouth, that was what they had been least suspecting. Jack turned slowly so she could see more of his jacket and brought his own hand up. "You've seen this before?" He prompted. The girl nodded mutely.

"You know Daniel?" Sam asked, stepping forward. The two men let her, knowing she would cut the least imposing figure, advancing on the girl. She was likely to turn tail and run if either Jack or Teal'c tried to approach. She did step back a pace when Sam moved forward, but stilled and waited. She was nodding. She put a hand into a fold of the simple shift she was wearing and all three of the others tensed,m worried she would bring out a weapon of some kind, but again the small girl surprised them by retrieving a pair of glasses with wire frames.

Sam closed the gap between herself and the girl and took the glasses. She turned and held them up to Jack and Teal'c. "They're Daniel's." She said. She turned back again, worry creasing her brow. "How did you get these?" She prompted.

"I took. They were amongst his clothes they took off. If they saw he was imperfect..." The girl's head dropped and Sam could have guessed the rest.

"Where is he?" Sam asked, a small flicker of hope born that they might just be able to save their wayward archeologist. She'd been getting steadily more disheartened as time wore on and they'd been getting lost but coming out into a corridor right where someone who could help them just happened to be was a luckier turn than she'd experienced in a while. Jack and Teal'c had moved up behind Sam, but still hung back a little way so the girl wouldn't feel threatened. She seemed to be recovering from her initial fear and Daniel, Sam thought, must have made a good impression for the girl to be willing to help them find him.

She seemed to come to a decision and stepped closer to Sam. "He is one floor up and three doors down. The door is unguarded but locked and heavy. I'm expected elsewhere or I would come. It will draw attention if I delay further." She said. Sam felt a rush of relief. Finally they had confirmation that Daniel was still alive and they were closer to him than they'd ever dreamed possible. Sam nodded once and stepped aside so the girl could move passed. She hesitated and took Sam's wrist. "Don't be frightened by what you see." She said, before releasing Sam and scurrying down the corridor. Sam blinked and a worm of worry was born.

"That doesn't sound good." Jack voiced Sam's concern and she nodded.


	5. Beauty Chapter 5

Disclaimer - I do not own or operate the characters and events portrayed in Stargate SG1. No money, no how.

Disclaimer 2 - I use Janet because I like her character and am in denial.

Chapter 5 - Escape.

Daniel hadn't noticed when he'd slipped from lying on his stomach and thinking if there was anyway out of his current predicament, to actually sleeping, but it must have happened, as he started awake when there was a gentle touch on his forehead. Daniel had slept like the dead in the past, but ever since Hathor, he'd been a painfully light sleeper. Noise still didn't wake him, a brass band could play in his tent when he was offworld and he would snore on, oblivious, but any touch would jolt him out of sleep. Daniel had the suspicion that Jack knew this and would wake Daniel by calling him, even though it took a lot longer. Daniel had appreciated the simple care that showed.

Now, someone had invaded his personal space while he was unaware and his eyes snapped open. Sitting on the bed beside him was the female Gou'ld who'd been in the operating theatre before he'd had his little 'surgery'. Daniel froze, his mind repeating the word 'no' over and over. He had thought he would have more time. It seemed the sand in the top of his hourglass had run out and he would stop being Daniel Jackson very soon.

The Gou'ld noticed he was awake and smiled down at him, her fingers still stroking his brow. "I have come to bless you with the gift of Godhood." She sighed.

"Look lady." Daniel barked, sitting up and away. He very nearly overbalanced and went off the bed completely. He wasn't quite used to his new centre of gravity. "I'm not sure what the slave traders have told you about me, but I know exactly what you are so if you think implanting me with a Gou'ld is going to go smoothly, you have another think coming."

The woman blinked at him, and the smooth planes of her face hardened. Daniel knew he had guessed right, she had thought she was getting someone that knew nothing of the Gou'ld and would be malleable. She'd thought him docile when he was merely doped. "I am Aphaestus. How dare you speak to me in such a manner!" She spat, rising to her feet. Daniel also rose and noticed that she was wearing a hand device. At least I can goad her into killing me is all else fails, Daniel thought darkly. Aphaestus was coming around the bed, advancing on Daniel, who backed up until he met a wall. "Its a pity." Aphaestus almost purred. "I am to sample you before making my final payment. This could have been pleasurable for both of us. Now it will only be pleasurable for me." Her hand went up, the hand device already glowing. Daniel lunged toward her, hoping to either knock her aside or grab her arm, but a pain lanced through his mind before he'd closed half the gap between them. A pain he had felt before, kneeling before the Gou'ld that had taken his wife.

It drove him to his knees again and Aphaestus followed him down. Daniel's mind recognised, through the haze that it wasn't a killing pain, but merely meant to keep him incapacitated. He thought dryly that Aphaestus probably didn't want to damage her precious host before implantation. Daniel tried to fight through the pain, fight back, but the second time in as many days his body just wouldn't respond.

Not again, Daniel vehemently denied. I can't survive this happening again.

He prayed for unconsciousness that wouldn't come.

xxxxxxxxx

Teal'c strode into the room, put two large hands on either side of the Gou'ld's head, and twisted sideways viciously. Jack had his taser out and had been going to use it but Teal'c's face had hardened at seeing the Gou'ld torturing Daniel and he had reacted out of pure anger. Usually such a controlled man, Jack had not often born witness to what the Jaffa could do when rage took him, and he was glad of it. The connection broken, Daniel slumped sideways. Sam ran forward, brushing passed Teal'c to reach Daniel, terrified that they might have been too late. She briskly checked vitals and was reassured to hear the gentle thump of Daniel's heart through an ear to his chest. She touched the blood that had seeped from his left nostril and turned to Jack and Teal'c. "It was close." She breathed.

"C'mon. Let's get that bloody costume off him and get out of here." Jack was all brisk business. Sam scooted around Daniel and after a few attempts, looked up, confusion in her eyes. "Ah... sir?" She said. "These don't come off."

"For cryin' out loud." Jack sighed, also coming around Daniel and placing a hand on the base of one if his wings. He yanked and nothing happened. He yanked again and Daniel moaned. "Holy crap!" Jack exclaimed, jumping backwards.

"They're attached." Sam said, her tone a mixture of horror and fascination. She had cradled Daniel's head in her lap to help his breathing and she leant over him, inspecting what had been done. The base of the wing flowed smoothly beneath his skin, and looking at it closely, Sam could see tendons and muscles just under his shoulder blades that would be helping to support the extra weight. She ran a hand up the base of one of the wings and then pulled it back in shock. There was a fine layer of skin just underneath the feathers and it was _warm_.

"We'll cut them off and go. Janet can stitch him up neater later." Jack said, flicking his head towards the door. Sam looked up at him and shook her head mutely, her hands still making careful exploration. Jack pulled a face at her, his universal 'what now?' look. "Sir, I don't know what type of damage we'll do if we try to just cut them off. The way these are attached, it's possible you might as well cut off an arm or a leg. We should get him back to the SGC before we do anything drastic."

"For chrissakes Carter. Lugging Big Bird around isn't really going with that whole inconspicuous motif we got going."

"Honestly sir, we could do spinal damage, he could bleed out... we have no way of knowing what they tied through these things. The fact that there is no scarring whatsoever means the method they used is completely beyond any medicine we know of, apart from maybe the Knox."

"Jesus. Hasn't enough been done to the poor guy?" Jack growled, punching the wall beside him with a fist. He understood completely where Teal'c's killing rage had come from; anger was welling within him also. Daniel was the most gentle, sensitive person he had ever known. The various and horrible things done to him over the last 7 years were a crime against everything right in the world. Jack was surprised that Daniel had held up so well. His wife had been taken over and killed before his very eyes. He'd been tortured, maimed, _killed_ and what Hathor had done... Jack shuddered. How Daniel had retained the quiet dignity that was a hallmark of his very character was a mystery Jack would never understand, but always appreciate.

Silently Teal'c stepped forward and lifted Daniel, slinging the smaller man over his shoulder, careful of the extra appendages he now had. "Lead on O'Neill." Teal'c said, nodding his head in the direction of the door. Jack's grip tightened on the taser he held and he nodded also. He looked to Sam who smiled grimly.

"Fighting our way out then?" She prompted.

"Is there any other way for us?" Jack's devil-may-care grin had a bitter edge to it that chilled Sam's heart.


	6. Beauty Chapter 6

Disclaimer - I do not own or operate any of the characters or events portrayed on Stargate SG1.

Chapter 6 - Home.

"UNSCHEDULED OFFWORLD ACTIVATION"

The announcement boomed through the tunnels of the SGC, along with the accompanying klaxons and flashing lights. General Hammond had heard those words more times than he could count yet it never failed to set his heart racing. He never felt so young. The General had thought he was going to retire 7 years ago. He thanked whatever prudence there was in the world that had landed the care of the SGC in his hands. He wouldn't have missed the experience for the world.

Hammond was in the control room and looking at Walter expectantly before the gate had finished dialing. Experience proved that the majority of the time, it would be an SG team coming in because they were either finished with the mission they had been sent on, or one of the team members was injured. Hammond watched the screen in front of Walter and saw SG1's emergency code flash up. He span before Walter could advise him and hit the medical alert. SG1 had a habit of finding trouble and didn't use the emergency code lightly. He'd had all four of the team members limping haggardly through the Stargate without having used the code. If they could make it to the infirmary on their own steam or with only the assistance of each other, that's what they did.

Hammond knew the reason as well. Despite wanting to treat every SG team equally, if SG1 used their emergency GDO code, Janet Frasier would personally be on her way to the 'gate room on the run, taking most of her medical team with her. Colonel O'Neill hated fuss and Hammond wondered if the Colonel realised that Janet did bring most of her medical team because Jack only used the emergency code in the direst of circumstances.

The Iris cycled open just as Hammond heard the sound of running feet and a gurney being hauled fast in the corridor outside, being hounded by the brisk sound of Janet Frasier barking orders. Despite the circumstances, Hammond could only smile at the sound.

Yep, nothing in the world.

His jovial mood was broken when the first of SG1 hurtled through the event horizon. Sam had come through at an awful, limping run. Her right ankle looked almost bent sideways and yet she was moving faster than most healthy men would at a dead sprint. She skidded to a halt on the metal runway and sat down heavily, the adrenalin that seemed to have kept her upright on a broken ankle looking like it left her as soon as she was through the 'gate. Jack was through next, cradling his P90 to his chest with a bloody arm. He too was limping badly but made sure he was passed Sam and the runway still clear before he collapsed.

The last members of SG1 finally broke through the shimmering circle. Teal'c had a form slung over one shoulder. Sweat was pouring from the large Jaffa but he managed to halt and place the person he was carrying down gently on the runway, before pitching face forward himself, collapsing from apparent exhaustion. There was a strange silence in the 'gate room for a few moments, the only sound the ragged breathing of the team that had just come through. The event horizon disconnecting and the cycling of the iris back to open seemed to break the spell and Janet moved forward.

Hammond was looking at the body Teal'c had brought through. It must have been Daniel Jackson, but he looked as if he was wearing some kind of garish costume. Hammond saw Jack pull himself up the ramp next to Daniel and Janet knelt down to him. Jack waved her off; in the same movement indicating Daniel needed to be looked at first. He said something that made the colour drain from Janet's face as her hands reached towards the large black wings that protruded from Daniel's back. Her hands snatching back to her chest, Janet rose, calling for a stretcher. Hammond saw the two medics with the stretcher be told something that made their eyes widen and stare down at the prone form of Daniel. Janet put a hand to two separate shoulders and she gave them a quick shake. They both snapped back into being all business and awkwardly maneuvered Daniel onto the stretcher between them.

Jack looked up and his eyes met Hammond's. He looked shell-shocked, but his eyes slowly cleared and he nodded. Over the confusion Hammond heard Jack call that he would get his knee and arm taped up and then tell him everything.

Hammond knew it was going to be one hell of a story.

xxxxxx

"Sir, Colonel O'Neill has gone missing from the infirmary." Janet's brisk voice was edged with frustration. Jack had always been her most troublesome, and second most frequent patient, beaten out only by Daniel for the dubious title. General Hammond chuckled. Just at that moment Jack's head had appeared through his doorway and had stopped short when he'd heard Janet's voice. Hammond assured Janet that Jack would be returned to the infirmary straight after he had had a chat to him and Hammond ushered Jack forward to a seat with a wave of his hand.

General Hammond looked across at the man in his doorway. He still looked as if he would drop at any moment. He had an ugly looking gash that had been stitched closed along one cheek and his right eye was half closed, the surrounding skin blue and slowly making it's way to an impressive shade of black. He limped into the office and sat, asserting that his knee was fine and he would be getting about like usual in a few days. Jack had been through a lot, but Hammond thought this time he looked as if he had clawed his way out of the very pits of hell.

"I'm not going to even begin to understand _what_ happened to Doctor Jackson, but maybe you can let me know the 'how'?" Hammond prompted. Jack sighed, toying with the model jet that sat on the front edge of Hammond's desk. "I request that P43-987 be locked out of the dialing computer sir. It's a slave trader's planet." Hammond blinked. "They trade to other like-minded human colonies for the most part, but they also specialise in making _improved_ hosts for the Gou'ld Sir."

"Improved?"

"It looks purely aesthetic sir, but you know those wacky Gou'ld. They love a pretty shell."

"Is that what was intended for Doctor Jackson?"

"I'd say so sir. Teal'c was imprisoned in a labour pit right off, but Daniel, Sam and I were in a separate cell. I guess they weren't sure if we would be more valuable or not. They came and took Daniel away pretty quickly. Look sir, can I write you up a report later? I'd like to go and see if Daniel's ok." Jack started to rise but Hammond waved him back down. He'd been talking with Janet just before Jack had arrived. "Colonel, there's no way of knowing if Doctor Jackson was implanted with a Gou'ld or not. We've had to move him to one of the observation rooms. I just wanted you to be prepared for that."

"For cryin' out loud sir, he was being tortured by a damn Gou'ld when we found him - "

"Jack, I understand your feeling, but we would have had to move him to isolation anyway. We have no idea what was done to him on that planet or what its effects will be. He hasn't been conscious since you found him. Besides, I don't want him having to go through people gawking at him while we figure out how to reverse what was done. We've sent word to the Tok'ra and they said they could get a representative here in about three days. At least we know if he did have a symbiote implanted then we can have it removed."

"I'd still like to go see him. It's not right him dealing with this alone. We don't even know if he knows about the ..." Jack made a flapping gesture with both hands and Hammond's eyebrows raised. "Alright Colonel. But if Doctor Frasier sees you, I gave you an order to return to the infirmary with no detours." Hammond smiled. Jack nodded and rose again, wincing with the effort.

xxxxxxxxxx

Daniel had lost count of the number of times he'd opened his eyes to see the face of Janet Frasier looking down at him. He'd grown to both love and hate the lovely brown eyes that gazed at him at that moment. He loved them because it meant he was safe at the SGC and being cared for by a woman he'd grown to love, more than he'd had the courage to admit to her yet, but hate because it meant he'd managed to get injured again and there would be painful healing ahead, and the chance that the other members of SG1 were also injured. Daniel moved a hand to rub his forehead and came up short, the restraints restricting his movements clinking against the bed frame.

"Oh that can't be good." Daniel groaned. He moved to roll onto his back but couldn't do that either. The memory of what had happened crashed through his consciousness like a wave and he felt on the verge of panic until a strong hand clamped down on his shoulder. "Calm down Danny boy. Everything's going to be peachy." Jack's voice rumbled and Daniel felt the initial wave of panic ease off. He felt more tired than he had ever felt before and let sleep claim him again. Jack kept a hand on his shoulder until Daniel's breathing evened out.

"Doc?" Jack looked up at Janet. She smiled tiredly, rubbing a fist into her eye.

"He doesn't have a Gou'ld. I also took a look at the surgery performed and I'm not ashamed to admit that its way beyond anything I've ever seen. It makes the micro-surgery we do look like somebody has used oven mitts and a mallet." Janet warmed to her topic, her hands drifting over Daniel's back. "There's absolutely no skin trauma, no scarring or bruising. The wings, while he can't fly or anything like that, are fully articulated." Janet had grasped the base of one of the wings and was moving it to show Jack the range of motion. Jack grimaced. "Quit doing that." He said. "It's weird enough without you.. playing with them."

Janet sighed. "Quite frankly, this kind of thing could have so many applications. Reattaching limbs, scar free surgery... there's so many advances we could gain by - "

"The doc that did this works for a slave trader." Jack said, his voice cold. The excited colour that had flushed Janet's face quickly drained away. She looked back at the man lying on his side on one of her infirmary beds and although she ached to run a hand over his face and smooth the furrowed brow he seemed to always hold onto, even in sleep, she also knew from experience that anything like that would wake him, and Daniel needed sleep more than anything. "I understand that Colonel." She sighed. "I'm just trying to find a positive to what's happened here, because otherwise it's just another crappy thing that's happened to a really great guy who doesn't deserve it."

Jack sighed aswell. "I'm sorry Janet, I get that, I do. It's just that I don't think we should trade with these people. We've seen stuff like this before. Hell, we have it in our own history but I'll be damned if we're going to turn a blind eye to a world that thinks this is an okay thing to do, just to gain something for ourselves."

"That doesn't sound like the Jack I first met." Janet said, looking at Jack thoughtfully.

"I can't help it. Jacksonisms seem to rub off on you, given enough time around the guy."


	7. Beauty Chapter 7

Disclaimer - I do not own or operate any of the characters or events portrayed in stargate SG1. I loves them good however.

Chapter 7 - A Man Adrift

"You know, they're really not that noticeable."

"You're not helping."

"No, honestly. Haven't you seen The Prophecy? All you need is a... really big coat."

"Jack!"

Daniel had been awake and alert for a few hours now and had been left alone in the infirmary with only Jack for company. He was standing in front of one of the steel cabinets and looking at himself critically. He was only wearing tracksuit bottoms because someone had brought him a t-shirt and he'd had it halfway over his head before realising he wouldn't be able to wear it. As he stood he extended the wings up and out experimentally. One of them brushed a glass container on a shelf and it rolled to the floor and smashed. Jack grimaced. "I'll get it." He said, going for the dustpan and brush that he'd only had out a few moments earlier. Daniel had managed to break nearly every breakable object in the infirmary. Jack knew he should tell Daniel to sit but his friend was agitated and Daniel needed to move when this was the case. Right now, Jack didn't mind the smashing noises. He would promise Janet to requisition new anything that had been broken.

Daniel was currently both appalled and fascinated. It had taken him about an hour to get used to walking around with the extra weight and he thought it strange that these artificial... _things_ on him could be moved as easily and with as little thought as raising an arm above his head or lifting his leg. His mind patiently sent the signals to the rest of his body when any movement was required, including to the new bits.

Sam had appeared in the infirmary doorway and Daniel turned to see her staring at him. Might as well get used to that, he thought, I'm now officially a freak show. Sam seemed to shake herself mentally and with a bright smile, entered the room, obviously determined to pretend everything was normal. "Hey guys." She chirped and both Jack and Daniel grimaced at her false cheer. "Hi Sam." Daniel greeted in response and turned back to the cabinet he was using in lieu of a mirror, knocking a test tube from a rack as he did so. Jack deftly caught it and placed it back where it belonged without comment. "You know, all I want is to be able to put a shirt on." Daniel grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

Sam looked at Daniel, and then at the shirt thrown on the bed he'd been occupying and sighed. She crossed the room, limping slightly from the temporary cast on her ankle, picking up a scalpel from the instrument tray she passed and picked up the shirt. She laid it flat with the back turned up toward her and passed the scalpel deftly through the single layer of fabric, twice. She picked the shirt up and handed it to Daniel. "Tada." She said. Daniel looked at the shirt thoughtfully, before pulling it over his head. Sam had made two parallel slits in the back, sectioning the material into three parts that fit around his wings and hung loose at the bottom. "Huh." Jack grunted. Daniel grinned in thanks.

Daniel turned again and knocked Sam into Jack. "Okay, that's it." Jack grumped, crossing the room and grabbing Daniel by the shoulders and marching him back over to his bed. He forced him to sit and Daniel complied with a scowl. Daniel swung his feet like a kid on a too big chair and then tensed to stand again. Jack gave him a stern look. "Stay!" He barked. Daniel slumped back down. His face clouded and Jack recognised the look as something occurring to Daniel that he hadn't thought of which was worrying him. Jack had seen that look time and again whenever Daniel had translated something that would mean more trouble for them. Sam looked between the two men and then decided to make herself scarce. "I've got some work to do but I'll be back soon." She said too-brightly. She mentally kicked herself for the brittle, cheerleader like quality of her voice.

"Sam?" Daniel called. He made to get off the bed, looked at Jack's scowl and then gestured with a hand for Sam to come to him. Sam crossed back to Daniel and he reached out arms and pulled her into a hug. She was surprised but warm pleasure filled her. "Thanks for rescuing me... again." Daniel grinned, his eyes crinkling. There was sadness behind them; San could see that now she was so close to him. Sam returned the hug fiercely and dropped a kiss on his forehead. "I'd say you owe me one but I'm sure we're running even at the moment." The brittle cheer was replaced with genuine affection on Sam's tone and Daniel smiled in relief at the change.

When Sam was gone, Daniel turned to Jack. "I'd thank you, but it never seems enough, you know?"

"Bah!" Jack made a dismissive gesture with his hand.

"There's something else I have to ask. I hadn't really remembered it till now, my brain's still a little bit fried. I'm hoping I haven't lost any languages." Daniel said, rubbing his forehead tiredly. Jack knew exactly what Daniel was going to ask and had been dreading it ever since they had brought him back through the 'gate. Jack had also thought seriously about the answer he was going to give, and while it didn't sit easy with him, he thought it was the _right_ thing to do. "That Gou'ld. She said something about... _sampling_ me before she made her final payment. I can't remember anything after she hit me with the ribbon device." Daniel took a shaky breath and his blue eyes rose to meet Jack's. "When you found me... did she... I mean was she - ?"

"No Daniel."

xxxxxxx

"But you lied... to _Daniel_." Sam had had a spoonful of blue jello halfway to her mouth when Jack had come into the cafeteria, dropped heavily into the chair opposite her and beside Teal'c, and had stated matter-of-factly what he had just done. Sam had lost her taste for dessert and let the spoon fall back into the tall glass with a clank. "I know." Jack said gruffly, suddenly finding Sam's blue jello fascinating so he didn't have to look at either of his two teammates. He could feel two sets of eyes on him. "But Sir - "

"Look, he didn't need to know." Jack snapped. He'd only told Sam and Teal'c of his deception because he was worried that Daniel would not truly believe him and ask one of them. He knew Sam would probably try to be diplomatic about answering whereas Teal'c would state the simple truth. The simple truth was too ugly for Daniel to know.

The truth was that when Teal'c had kicked in the door to Daniel's cell, the Gou'ld had been astride Daniel, obviously too preoccupied to even notice their presence. She'd been too busy to also notice that she'd very nearly killed Daniel. Jack shuddered, knowing that Daniel still had nightmares about the incident with Hathor and the last thing he needed was another thing to add to his already over-full repertoire of horrible events. He already had a plethora of items to fill his nights with sweat and screams. Daniel didn't know what had happened to him this time and Jack intended for it to stay that way.

"I don't believe we have the right to make that decision for DanielJackson." Teal'c said, also deciding that he had lost any desire to indulge in the food heaped before him. He pushed the tray away from himself. Jack wasn't expecting either Teal'c or Sam to support his decision. He was prepared for it. "I'm ordering both of you to keep silent about this." Jack said. Sam blinked at him and Teal'c raised an eyebrow.

"Sir, I don't think you have the right to do that either." Sam admonished.

"Okay, I'm asking you then."

"Would you-?" Sam began,

"Don't finish that question." Jack said stonily, his jaw tightening. He stood stiffly and left the cafeteria. Teal'c reached a hand across and touched Sam's shoulder and she reached up and squeezed it back. She loved Jack O'Neill, but sometimes she hated him just a little bit too.

xxxxxxx

Daniel's face was ashen. "You're sure?"

"I thought one of the others would have discussed this with you already." Janet's heart was hurting to see Daniel looking so tired and destroyed. She had been told that she would have to run tests on Daniel to rule out any STDs and she hadn't realised that she would have to explain to him _why_. She was shocked to think that none of SG1 had yet discussed what had happened with him. Jack had been keeping him company and she'd assumed that the news would have been broken to Daniel. She was drawing blood and when she finished, she pulled out the needle and held a piece of cotton bandaging to his arm to stem the tiny trickle that followed the needle out. Daniel's hand came up and covered hers.

"I just-" Daniel began. Janet wasn't sure what he had been going to say and then she looked up and saw that there were tears in Daniel's eyes. He looked so young and vulnerable and she instinctively reached out to hug him. When she wrapped her arms around him she felt him tense and thought that it might have been the stupidest thing she could do, forcing contact on him when he'd just been through a terrible physical and mental trauma, but then she felt him relax against her and his arms came up and around, crushing her small body to himself. She could feel his hot tears through the fabric of her shirt as he buried his face into her shoulder. "I just can't." She heard him mumble.

Janet was only one of a handful of people that knew what had happened to Daniel at the hands of Hathor and it pained her to see that to the present he still would sometimes flinch when someone touched him without even realising it. The very fact that no one could touch him while he was sleeping spoke volumes of his body's instinctual fear of being hurt again, and it had happened.

"I need to go home." Daniel said, dropping his arms to his sides and pulling away. Janet released him and then gave him a pained look.

"Daniel...you can't leave the base." Janet said, touching one of his wings. He looked sideways at her gesture and she saw his eyes darken with hurt. She hated that she was the bearer of all the bad news. Why was it left to her to wound him further, she thought angrily. She'd have a few choice words to say to Jack O'Neill when she saw him. Daniel dropped his head into his hands and his whole body slumped in resignation. "For a second there I actually forgot." He said, his tone bitter. General Hammond appeared in the doorway and Janet didn't know whether to be relieved or to shoo him right back out again. Daniel looked up though and spotted Hammond.

"Good to see you up and around son." Hammond said, an almost fatherly smile on his face. She knew Hammond tried his damndest not to get too attached to the people under his command, he never knew when an order of his would get one of them killed, but he'd always had a soft spot for the civilian in his flagship team. He always treated Daniel with genuine affection, not as worried about air force protocol when it came to the archeologist. Daniel had been making the rounds of the family Christmases since he'd joined the SGC, not having a family of his own. Only last year, Janet had Daniel spend the holiday with her and Cassie. He always refused at first, but Janet had made him feel like he would be doing _her_ a favour by attending and she remembered fondly how happy he had been to be included in the tiny family unit. She'd heard the two years before that Daniel had been a special guest at the Hammond family feast and that the grandchildren had adored him.

"Yes sir, as Jack says, its surprisingly hard to kill me." Daniel smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. Hammond glanced at Janet quickly and she could read the concern in the older man's eyes, plain as day. It would have befitted Daniel greatly to go home and be able to sleep in his own bed for just a little while, but Janet understood that he couldn't leave the base. What she was worried about was that Daniel might not have realised yet that if she couldn't undo what had been done to him, he would never be able to have a normal life ever again. He would be as trapped on the base as Teal'c was. More so, because at least Teal'c could leave for short stints of time and blend in with normal people.

Currently, Daniel just couldn't. At the moment, if he wanted to live a life where he could go outside on occasion, he would probably have to live it offworld.

Hammond had asked a question, and both she and Daniel had missed it, being lost in their own thoughts. She heard Daniel ask what he'd said and Hammond looked at him sympathetically. "I said do you want to move to one of the VIP rooms for the time being or stay in the isolation infirmary?" Hammond asked. Daniel looked from Hammond to Janet and back again. "I'll move into one of the rooms." Daniel agreed. He stood and as he did he folded his wings down in such a way that he wouldn't knock any objects over. Janet bit the comment back that he was getting used to them, knowing that it wouldn't be taken in the positive way she would have meant it. Hammond gestured for Daniel to follow him and Daniel moved to the door, looking back at Janet once. She almost stopped him, wanting to ask him to stay in the infirmary. He would be closer to her and she could check on him more frequently. The VIP rooms were a few floors up and Janet would have a hard time getting away for the few minutes necessary to travel between the floors. She squashed the urge though, feeling it was a selfish desire to keep Daniel close and probably not especially beneficial for him.

Daniel was also torn. He had a strong desire to stay near Janet who he instinctively sought out when he was hurting, both emotionally and physically. He'd broken down a few weeks after the Hathor incident and she'd held him while he wept uncontrollably. It had done him the world of good and Janet had never mentioned it. He knew she had the patient/doctor confidentiality thing, but he also knew she had comforted him as a friend, and kept it to herself for the same reason. His need to be alone to lick his wounds was stronger however. A lifetime of being a loner was a hard habit to break. Sha're had gone someway towards breaking him of the habit. Many times he had tried to withdraw from her during their time together and she had never allowed it, always seeking him out. The funny thing was, there were a few times when he truly desired to be alone, rather than just thinking he should be, and it was those times that Sha're had suddenly found something else to occupy herself. Daniel still felt her loss keenly, especially in times such as this.

He knew he was withdrawing and felt there was no one left to pull him back.


	8. Beauty Chapter 8

Disclaimer - I do not own or operate the characters and events portrayed in SG1.

Chapter 8 - Lucky.

Jack had sequestered himself in his office. He was very rarely there, only when he needed to write reports and so he thought it would be the last place anyone would look for him. Ofcourse, Samantha Carter would know that and therefore look for him there as the first thing she did, which was evidenced by her presence in his doorway. He already felt crappy enough about the whole situation without talking about it further. He didn't know why he had reacted to Carter the way he had. Actually, strike that, he thought, he knew _exactly_ why. The thought of what had happened to Daniel was bad enough.

To think of it happening to Sam...

Jack's mind shied away from the very idea and he'd instantly gone for anger as a way to avoid the topic. He always reached for the anger first. He didn't know why and he knew he should work on that, but if he wasn't either being angry or sarcastic there was only sadness left at that present moment and sadness and him didn't work well together. He'd let the sadness take over after Charlie died and he'd managed to push everyone away that was important to him. He figured with the anger he could just apologise later.

Sam was looking distraught however and that worried him. He'd expected her to be turning up to give him another serve but instead she looked like she was going to tell a little kid that their dog had died. Another thought occurred to him and he went cold. "Is Daniel-?"

"He knows Sir." Sam's voice was barely above a whisper. It took a second for Jack to realise what she was talking about. He'd been expecting her to tell him that Daniel had taken a turn for the worse somehow but with a sinking feeling his brain finally caught up to the conversation. "Christ. How? Did you - ?"

"No Sir. Janet had to do some tests and she had no idea he hadn't been told. I'd stay out of her way for a little while if I were you." Sam was still in the doorway, leaning against the jam like she was glued there. Jack scooted backwards from his desk and stood, rubbing a hand through his hair. It was the last thing he'd wanted. He thought Daniel had been through enough, but now he'd added insult to injury in the form of his best friend lying to him about something pretty major. "I have a knack for doing the wrong thing don't I?" Jack sighed, coming around his desk and sitting on the front edge. Sam finally broke her contact with the door and stepped forward into the room. She stopped just short of Jack and crossed her arms. "I just want you to know that while I didn't agree with keeping this from him, I understand why you would want to. To be honest, I'm starting to think that it would have been better for Daniel to have not found out. Janet said he just...shut down." Sam sighed. She too didn't like to let sadness in, but there had been so much cause for it lately. Jack reached forward and grasped her arms, pulled her foreward so she was standing between his legs.

"I know you wondered why I stopped sharing a tent with you offworld and started sharing with Daniel." He said, his hands staying clasped loosely around Sam's elbows so she couldn't retreat. Sam felt colour enter her cheeks. "And its not what you might have thought." Jack continued. He saw Sam glance up at him quickly and he grinned at her. "Okay, not _entirely_ why you would have thought." He clarified and was heartened to see Sam smile, the colour in her cheeks flaring brighter. "Daniel's still been having pretty heavy duty nightmares and he was embarrassed. He would start crying in his sleep sometimes or screaming. He would always wake Teal'c up who would wake him up and calm him down and Daniel knew Teal'c would then be up for a few hours making sure he was okay. Daniel didn't want that." Sam was watching him carefully as his hands drifted down from her elbows to entwine his fingers through her own. "Apparently if he starts to fret I sling an arm over him and I don't even wake up. He calms right down and he doesn't disturb me at all. I know he wakes up quick if he's touched when he's sleeping, except when I do it in _my_ sleep. We know this because Teal'c was on watch one night when we were all sleeping outside and I was next to Daniel. I got Teal'c to watch us the next night, same thing happened, I figured what the hey? Daniel thinks he's getting through the nights and Teal'c sleeps as much as he's supposed to."

"He doesn't remember having the nightmares?"

"Doesn't seem to. He remembered them if he got woken up in the middle, but he doesn't seem to if he keeps right on sleeping."

"Wow, I had no idea."

"Neither did I, except one night I couldn't sleep when he started having one. The expression on his face...there was so much _pain_...and the crying was the most awful sound I've ever heard, bar one." Sam knew without Jack having to clarify what the other bad sound was. It would have been a single gun shot on a sunny afternoon. Sam shivered. "Should I go see him, explain why I lied?" Jack asked.

"Give him a little while." Sam nodded, stepping backwards. Jack let her hands go with reluctance.

He wished he could lie to himself sometimes.

xxxxxxx

Janet had _meant_ to leave him alone. She really had. He'd looked so pained and in need of some good solid rest that her rational mind kept telling her to leave him be. He needed to heal, be by himself for a while. The last thing he needed was people hovering over him.

She studiously ignored her rational mind as she entered the elevator and pressed floor 18, heading for the VIP room that Daniel had been in. She was off for the day but it didn't seem right to just get in her car and drive home. She would be greeted by a warm house and a loving daughter and nothing truly bad while Daniel was a virtual prisoner. She'd called Cassie while she was still trying to make up her mind.

_"Don't you dare come home."_

_"Don't you think I should leave him - "_

_"Mom! Are you completely blind? He doesn't need to be left alone. He's probably feeling like a freak."_

_"Cassie!"_

_"It's true. You said yourself that there was a small crowd gathered when he came out of the infirmary. Can you imagine what that would be like?"_

_""I hadn't really thought..."_

_"Obviously not. He needs you. I can get a pizza. He can't even leave the base." _

She wondered when her daughter had become so wise. Janet found herself before the closed door to Daniel's room before she knew it and her fist was raised to knock before she could think better of it. She heard footsteps shuffle over to the door and it swung open. There was a moment, the merest of seconds, where Daniel looked just simply _relieved_ to see her, before the internal blinds were pulled and his emotions hidden. "Do I need more tests?" He asked.

"I'm off the clock." Janet said, waving a hand to indicate her lack of white coat and stethescope. "I'm here to hang out, if you want me to." Again, for the briefest of moments, pleasure flooded Daniel's features, but it was clamped down quickly with a scowl. "I don't need to be babysat." He said gruffly, heading back into the room. He'd left the door open though and Janet hoped it was an unconscious invitation to be more insistant about staying. Daniel was always a struggle. She remembered trying to invite him to Christmas the past year.

_"Just you, me, Cassie and a turkey makes three...well, four anyway." _

_"Honestly. I've got heaps of work to do. I'll be fine. I'm starting to think you guys draw lots on who has to have Daniel to Christmas that year. Like an orphan lottery."_

_"Daniel, that's terrible."_

_"I'm sorry Janet. Thankyou but - "_

_"Daniel. It's just me and Cassie. I'd like her to get more of a family christmas vibe. She wants you to come as much as I do." _

_"Well... if you're sure."_

There was a kind of Daniel lottery each year, but he didn't understand that she had won. There would be arguments for days as to who would get to have him. They discussed it amongst themselves before issuing any invitations because they didn't want Daniel to feel like he had to choose. That previous christmas Daniel had had dinner with Jack, Sam and Teal'c on Christmas Eve and was back with the Hammond family on Boxing day, but Janet had managed to get the coveted christmas day Daniel.

"I'm not here to babysit Daniel."Janet admonished, crossing into the room. When she had Daniel was able to see that she had what looked like a picnic blanket in her arms and he looked at her. "What's that for?"

"I thought you might be going a little stir crazy. It's a nice night and Hammond agreed that you could go topside. Just not leave the mountain entirely." Janet said. Daniel stood. "You're kidding! I've been staring at different varieties of four walls for days. I'd kill to be outside."

Janet grinned.

An hour later they were lying under a starry sky. Janet had been worried she was hurting him, but Daniel had waved her off because when they'd lain down on the blanket, Janet had realised her head was resting on soft feathers and had started to rise. Daniel had put out a hand on her shoulder, halting her upward movement. She had let herself drop back down and could feel the warmth of his wing pressed against her back. It was both the weirdest and nicest sensation she'd felt in a while.

"I've lost the ability to just _look_ at the stars." Daniel sighed. "Its kinda hard when you know what's going on up there to just think 'oooh, pretty' you know?" Janet chuckled. Jack O'Neill was constantly berating either Daniel or Sam to stop thinking so much. Janet knew he worried about both of them using work to hide from the real world and kept dragging them both back into it, kicking and screaming. Janet was happy to take up that particular fight. She turned on her side and put a finger to Daniel's lips. "More pretty, less Gou'ld war." She admonished. She made to roll onto her back again but a wing brought up and around her kept her in place, curled against Daniel's side. His head turned and he grinned at her and Janet felt her heart skip a beat. He leant his head down and pressed his lips against the skin just above her brow and despite being encircled in warm feathers, Janet felt gooseflesh chase its way up and down her body. Janet felt a thrill of daring and dropped an arm across Daniel's chest. She felt warmth flood her when his hand came up to stroke the bare skin.

"I'm never going to be able to have a normal life am I?" He'd said it so non-chalantly that it threw Janet for a second. She knew Daniel wanted to be reassured, to hear something positive but she also knew that she couldn't lie to him.

Not ever.

"We haven't exhausted all avenues yet Daniel." She said truthfully. "The Tok'ra can remove symbiotes, their surgery is more advanced than ours so they might be able to do something. We've also been trying to contact the Asgaard. It's not hopless. The number of times we've thought it was where either you, Jack, Sam or Teal'c were concerned and there's been a last minute save come from somewhere, I can't count using all my fingers and toes. You guys are charmed." Janet had said it before she realised what she was saying, and who she was saying it _to._ Sure, they'd miraculously saved Daniel a time or two, but she'd also completely failed to save him at least once. He'd _died_, his wife had been shot in front of his eyes and he'd been horribly abused, and she was trying to tell him that he shouldn't give up hope because he was _lucky_.

Janet buried her face against Daniel's arm, expecting him to shut down again, pull away. "I'm sorry, that was a stupid thing to say."

"Its okay, I know what you meant. I _have_ been lucky despite appearances. Extremely so. I got to be in the Stargate program and I don't ever regret that, no matter how many horrible things have happened, because there's been an equal measure of the extremely good, more than equal. I've seen things that no other humans have seen, other worlds, different races. Archeology is a living, breathing thing for me, not just confined to dusty books and ancient artefacts." Janet saw Daniel smile in the moonlight. "But more than that, its the people I know. I have a gruff, sarcastic army Colonel for a best friend, a woman closer to me than any sister could have been and a warrior who calls himself my brother."

Janet felt silly for feeling jealous of the bond that SG1 shared. She knew they'd been to hell and back together, had nearly died for each other or in Daniel's case, _had _died for each other. She had never dreamed of a bond like that with anyone but Daniel shifting brought her out of her reverie. He'd turned onto his side aswell and because she was on his wing, he'd had to roll closer so that they were almost nose to nose. "And I have you and Cassie." He said, his voice roughened with emotion. Janet drew her arms around his neck and pulled Daniel to her.

"You sure do."

xxxxxx

"We're receiving a transmission through the 'gate Sir.' Walter called. Hammond and O'Neill entered the control room. Jack had been looking for Daniel and had come to Hammond's office to see if he'd been moved. Hammond had reassured him by letting him know that Daniel was with Janet. Jack had smiled, relieved that the younger man was at least talking to _someone_.

He was about to leave the control room and hunt down Teal'c and Sam when he heard Hammond say his name. Jack turned and looked at the screen that Hammond had just been looking into.

"Son of a bitch!" He exclaimed.


	9. Beauty Chapter 9

Disclaimer - I don't own or operate any of the characters or events portrayed in Stargate SG1. I just think they're nice.

Chapter 9 - Mistaken identity.

"Where have you been, I've been all over the base looking for you!" Sam said, finally spotting Daniel and Janet heading toward her down a corridor. They gave each other a guilty glance. "We were outside. I've been going a little stir crazy and Janet said Hammond had given the ok." Daniel looked at Janet who had suddenly found her shoes fascinating. "Or so I thought." Daniel added.

Sam shrugged, obviously too excited about something to worry about where they had actually been. "You have to come to the briefing room now." She said, grabbing Daniel's hand and tugging her after him. He looked back at Janet who shrugged and followed. In the meeting room there was Jack sitting on one side of the conference desk and Hammond on the other. A large television was set up between them at the head of the desk where Hammond usually sat. Teal'c had arrived mere moments before Daniel and Sam and looked as perplexed as Daniel did himself. What worried him was that Jack was usually easy to read. There was either happy Jack or grumpy Jack and not a lot of shades of grey in between. The very fact that he was wearing an identical expression to Sam's, a kind of closed down worry, made Daniel's own concern ratchet up a notch.

"Hey guys." Daniel said carefully. Sam had released his hand and he put it out and felt Janet's fingers entwine in his own, give them a tiny squeeze and then release. He was comforted by the tiny gesture. Hammond indicated Daniel should sit. He looked to Janet. "Good, Doctor, you should stay." Janet dropped into the seat next to Daniel as Sam pulled out the one next to Jack. Teal'c stood by Daniel's chair and Daniel smiled. His support might have been silent, but it spoke louder than any words ever could.

"Approximately twenty minutes ago we received a transmission through the Stargate. It was first contact from a race we haven't encountered before, but which may look familiar nonetheless." Hammond said. He picked up the remote for the television and pressed a button.

"People of the Tau'ri." A man's face filled the screen. He was square-jawed and handsome in a way that didn't seem quite real. He adjusted his seat slightly and that tiny movement allowed a large red wing to come into the frame, arcing over his shoulder. Daniel's mouth dropped open. Hammond hit pause on the video. "Gou'ld?" Daniel asked. Jack glanced at Daniel. "Thankyou! That's what I think." He affirmed, swiveling his chair back to Hammond. Hammond treated Jack to a weary look, as if he had just finished having the same argument and Daniel had come in to reopen it. "The man who contacted us said that his name was Ulrich and he is from a race known as the Sid'he. He claims that a few months ago a transport ship from his planet was waylaid by the slavers and those in stasis taken. He said that his people had been tracking those that were missing since then and had found the planet they were taken to recently."

Daniel was trying to get his head around what was being said. "Wait, you mean these slavers _ran out_ of their supply of winged humans so they were making more?" He said. Hammond held up a hand. "Ulrich said he and an extraction team of his went in to save those that were left. They were told by other slaves they liberated that there had been an escape of those they called the Tau'ri and one of theirs had managed to escape also." Sam and Jack were both looking at Daniel with their brows creased. Daniel would have thought it funny if it weren't for the seriousness of the situation.

"They're demanding the safe return of the Sid'he we 'snatched'." Hammond stated.

"What?" Daniel spluttered.

"Sir, its just the Gou'ld trying to get their hands on their merchandise." Jack growled.

"Thanks for calling me merchandise Jack."

"Dammit Daniel! You know what I mean." Jack snapped.

"Be that as it may." Hammond cut in, holding one hand up for peace. "There is a chance this is a simple misunderstanding that can be cleared up pretty damn quickly. I've spoken to the President and he doesn't want to risk a possible future ally just because we're assuming they're Gou'ld."

"With all due respect Sir." Jack said, thumping one hand on the table. "I don't give a good goddamn. They're not going to just _believe_ that Daniel's not one of them. They're going to want to _look_ at him and that requires that they come here or we go somewhere to meet them and both those options just spell T.R.A.P." Jack pushed himself away from the desk. "Daniel's been through enough."

"If you're all just going to discuss this like I'm not even here, then why did you wait for me to come?" Daniel also rose, his eyes hardening. "I think there's been enough people trying to _decide_ what's best for me, Jack." Jack deflated under Daniel's angry gaze. He had been hoping to talk to Daniel and sort things out before they got stuck together again in any kind of public forum. Daniel had turned away to face Hammond. "General, do _you_ think a meeting on a neutral world with a couple of teams for backup would be too much of a risk?"

"No son, that's what I was going to suggest." Hammond nodded. He was looking at Jack with concern.

"Its possible these people can help me with my...condition once we sort out the mistake." Daniel said.

"I'll make the call and organise SG team's 8 and 13 to go through with you. Doctor Frasier?" Hammond looked toward Janet who nodded firmly. "Take Doctor Frasier too." Daniel nodded and left the room, followed by Janet. Hammond looked at Jack. "Care to explain what just happened?" He prompted. Jack sighed, rubbing his forehead and looked from Sam to Teal'c. "Not really sir." He said.

xxxxxxx

Daniel had copied Sam's trick and had modified a jacket to fit him. He thought vaguely that he was going to have a lot of clothes to repair when he was finally back to normal. He looked across at Janet who looked, if it were at all possible, even tinier in the army fatigues she was wearing. She glanced back at Daniel and snapped him a salute and he grinned. Daniel felt one of his wings being tugged and turned to the large and imposing figure of Colonel Dixon, leader of SG13. Daniel was good friends with Balinksy, his equivalent on SG13 and had heard many stories about the Colonel. If anything, he sounded like a more extreme version of Jack. Daniel furrowed his brow at Dixon who hurumphed. "Really stuck on there huh?" He said. Daniel rolled his eyes and turned back. He heard the sound of a hand being slapped behind him and turned to see Dixon glaring at Balinsky who had obviously intercepted another wing tug like you would a child from sticking their hand in the cake icing. Daniel treated Balinsky to a grateful grin who gave him a furtive thumbs up.

The 'gate was dialing when Jack, Sam and Teal'c strode into the embarkation room in full gear. Daniel gave them a confused glance. "I didn't think-"

"You go offworld. We go offworld." Jack snapped. Daniel _wanted_ to stay angry with Jack, but he'd had a chance to calm down and process what had happened and had known that his friend was just trying to protect him from more horror. He wondered vaguely if he would have made the same choice if their positions were reversed and couldn't say in all honesty that he wouldn't. "Aw, ain't that cute." The gruff voice of Dixon piped up. Daniel heard the meatier thump of more than a hand being slapped and saw out of the corner of his eye Dixon rubbing the back of his head and Jack's arm lowering. Daniel grinned. Yep, he thought, can't stay mad.

The kerwoosh of the event horizon flowing into existence brought all their attentions forward. "Colonel?' Hammond's voice issued from the control room. Despite their being three Colonels present in the room, only Jack looked up and behind himself. "You get even the vaguest feeling that everything isn't on the up and up and come on home, future relations be damned."

Jack grinned and snapped a more official looking salute.


	10. Beauty Chapter 10

Disclaimer - I do not own or operate the characters or events portrayed in Stargate SG1 but I loves them good.

Disclaimer 2 - The race name of the winged people has been changed. Don't ask. I hope it's not too confusing.

Chapter 10 - Release.

"You know, I think I prefer Dixon's open curiosity and wing-pulling to the furtive glances I keep getting from SG8." Daniel grumbled. "At least Dixon got bored and stopped doing it."

Jack gave his friend a sympathetic pat. "You've gotta accept that you cut a pretty strange looking figure. They're just getting used to it, they don't mean anything by it. I did my fair share of furtive staring when we first found you. I'm still not used to it. Everytime I turn to look at you I keep expecting you to look... normal." Jack winced, knowing he had chosen his words badly and his attempts at consoling Daniel were probably a dismal failure. Daniel gave him a tolerant glance. "I guess I don't have to look at me." Daniel grinned and waved at the members of SG8, one of whom had tripped on a tree branch because he'd been unable to tear his gaze away from Daniel. They all looked startled and hurried on, doing a sweep of the area.

"Sir, still no sign." Wells jogged up.

"Christ. I give them another ten minutes and then we're packing it up."

"But Jack -"

"Daniel, we've been here for two hours. If they were going to show, they would've by now."

Colonel Dixon sauntered up to Jack and Daniel, who were sitting on a rock jutting from the earth of the 'neutral' planet they had chosen for their meeting, P3X-295. It was yet another planet that bared a remarkable resemblance to Colorado. Jack always thought it uncanny. "You know, I've got the strangest feeling we're being watched." Jack felt his hackles rise and he stood, becoming alert. Colonel Dixon would clown around and not many people took him seriously at the SGC, but only if they'd never served with him. Jack had been on a number of missions with Dixon and had seen him single-handedly save a whole squad from ambush. Jack thought that Teal'c might be the only person to rival Dixon in that regard. Dixon's face had hardened and he was raising his P90. "Wells, fall back to the 'gate." He snapped. Jack noticed Teal'c jogging towards them; his staff weapon raised at the ready and that confirmed it for him. They had company.

"SG8, this is SG-one-niner." Jack clicked his walkie into life.

"We see 'em Colonel. Falling back to the 'gate." A crackly voice replied. Jack glanced across at Daniel who gave him a nervous smile.

"Here we go."

A group of nine Sha'e broke the treeline a few minutes later. They were dressed in uniforms of what looked like toughened leather and all but the tall male at the front had large white wings. Jack had ordered the 'gate opened behind them and Sam was making sure a steady radio signal was fed through to keep the event horizon engaged. Until they were sure it wasn't an ambush, the SG teams were keeping one foot in the door. The Sha'e advanced until they were a few hundred metres away. Jack and Teal'c were both making sure that they were bodily between Daniel and the group who had just arrived.

"I am Ulrich. Who is your leader as I would treat with him?" Jack glanced at Colonel Dixon and Colonel Greig, leader of SG8, who both gave him an imperceptible nod. Jack moved forward a step. "I'm Colonel Jack O'Neill, US air force." Jack noted that each of the Sha'e had a wicked looking metal bow in hand. Jack couldn't see arrows but when one touched the ground and it sparked he realised that the weapon was like nothing they had seen before. His grip on his P90 tightened but he resisted the urge to raise it. "We apologise for keeping you waiting. We had to ensure that there were no more Tau'ri on the way before we approached. We see that you have brought our brethren with you."

"Ah, the thing about that is, this has all been a huge misunderstanding." Jack said, shrugging. He flicked his head and Daniel moved around Teal'c, coming forward where the others could see him better. "I'm Doctor Daniel Jackson. I had these wings surgically implanted while held by the slavers." Ulrich blinked and then looked back toward the others of his group while Jack turned to Daniel with a grin. "Bet you never thought you'd say something like that." The Sha'e whispered amongst themselves. Ulrich turned back to face Jack. "You will appreciate that we cannot simply take your word for it. You might change your mind when you see what we have to offer."

"I'm sorry, you can't _buy_ Daniel if that's what you're thinking." Jack snapped. Daniel stepped forward, his hands out in a placating gesture. He had seen where Jack's temper had gotten them before in negotiations. "Look, its the truth. The slavers had a surgeon that _did_ this to me. I'm Tau'ri. I'm sure you would have doctors that would be able to tell. I'll submit to whatever tests - "

"Daniel!"

"Jack please! I'll submit to whatever tests you think are necessary."

"We will trade for you now. If what you say is true, we will return you to the Tau'ri. You understand we have crossed paths with those that would change a person's thoughts and memories before."

"What are you talking about trading? Jesus!" Jack threw up his hands. There was further movement in the tree line and another five Sha'e emerged, leading four people who were hobbled hand and foot, one woman and three men. They were wearing SG uniforms and had no wings. "What the hell?" Jack breathed. Sam had moved forward, leaving the monitoring of the radio signal through the Stargate to Wells and she now put her field binoculars up to her eyes and let out a gasp of surprise. "Sir, the woman is Major Parker."

"Who?"

Sam dropped the glasses. "Grace Parker. Part of SG19. I met her just before they went on their first mission." Sam's eyes clouded as she looked to Jack. "SG19 was listed MIA. They never returned. There was a search mounted of P4X-333 where they disappeared but they were never found. Hammond ordered the 'gate address locked out of the computer." Jack grabbed the field glasses that were hanging by their cord from around Sam's neck and looked for himself. As they awkwardly made their way forward, Major Parker turned slightly to say something to one of her companions and Jack could see the patch on her arm. It read SG19.

"What the hell is this?" Jack demanded, striding forward. Daniel made a grab for him but missed. Teal'c also moved forward to Jack's side, his staff weapon gripped in both hands. The Sha'e behind Ulrich raised their bows, blue light arcing into life between the two ends. The sound of P90s being raised and cocked was heard behind Jack. SG19 had been halted halfway across the grassy plain and lowered to their knees. "There is no need to spill blood this day." Ulrich said, a hand coming up. His followers slowly lowered their weapons, staring warily at the army-fatigued crowd across from them. "We wish to peacefully exchange hostages."

"Hostages? For cryin' out loud!

"Your SG19, as they call themselves, came through the Stargate to a world the Sha'e were using as a haven. We have been in hiding from the Gou'ld for generations and they, up until recently, believed we were extinct. We couldn't risk the truth that we still existed being discovered by the Gou'ld. They hunted us once, bent on destroying every man, woman and child of the Sha'e. A mere handful escaped and our numbers dwindle ever still. Your people have not been mistreated, and the capture of ours by the slavers has meant that the Gou'ld now know some of us live. We can now return your people to you as we have already been discovered. It is fortunate that we can liberate one of ours at the same time."

"Daniel isn't one of you!"

"I'm sorry, but we cannot trust anything you say. You have a Jaffa in your ranks."

"For cryin' out-"

"I'll go." Both Ulrich and Jack turned to look at Daniel. Jack treated Ulrich to a tight smile and then grabbed Daniel by the arm, hauling him backwards to the DHD and stopping to face him. "Are you nuts?" Jack exclaimed.

"Jack, they have four of our people. They had them for a month without killing them when they could have easily. They said they would return me as soon as they confirmed that I'm not one of them. I think it's worth the risk."

"I'm the one who decides if it's worth the risk." Jack snapped. "For all we know SG19 are four walking biological bombs. Do I need to spell trap again?" Daniel sighed, rubbing his forehead and then placed his hands on Jack's shoulders. "Can you honestly say that we leave SG19 here?"

"I'm not saying that. I'm saying we should take them back by force."

"Jack, we have no way of knowing how many of these guys are already on planet. We might be hopelessly outnumbered. This is the only way it's going to go down without anyone getting hurt." Dixon had walked up behind Jack and Daniel and placed the muzzle of his gun against Daniel's leg. There was a muffled thwap sound and Daniel felt a sharp pain. "Ow! What the hell was that?" It didn't actually feel like he'd been shot, more like someone had punched him hard just behind the knee. "I thought this might happen. It's a Tok'ra tracking device. We swap the Doc and then grab him when the winged guys are on route back to their planet. We radioed through and the Prometheus is already on its way here."

Jack and Daniel both blinked at Dixon who shrugged. "What? You didn't think these guys were going to just let you _explain_ what happened and let us go scot free did you?"

"We were hoping." Daniel rubbed his leg, scowling.

Jack nodded. "Fine, but let me just go on record as saying this is the worst plan I've ever heard."

"What about-?" Daniel began.

"Nup!" Jack held up a hand. "Worst plan ever."

xxxxxxx

"They all check out as clean. No symbiotes, no evidence of tampering. We have the Tok'ra on their way with a Zay'tarc detector and they'll stay in confined quarters till then. By all accounts and purposes, they're a little under-nourished, but otherwise fine." Janet's face was lined with worry but her tone didn't betray the turmoil she was experiencing. She'd shoved aside her worry for Daniel to deal with checking over the members of SG19 thoroughly. All were a little disorientated and surprised to be home, but otherwise in good spirits. Janet had had to put a security detail on the rooms not to keep them in, but to let other people out. The members of SG19 had been presumed dead and there were those in the SGC that wanted to make sure they were really back.

Janet was giving her report to General Hammond, who also looked a little preoccupied. He focused on the small doctor before him. "Its nice to have a win." He said, smiling tightly. He was worried also, but given the rare chance to pass on good news to families would had been informed that their loved ones were lost. It would be a small nightmare to explain _where_ they had been, but Hammond didn't regret any inconvenience their mysterious appearance had caused.

"General?" Jack was in the doorway, fidgeting with the bottom of his jacket.

"No word." Hammond sighed. It had been two days since they had handed over Daniel. Jack, Sam and Teal'c had wanted to go with the Prometheus to pursue the Sha'e but they'd been ordered back as the Prometheus would not have reached the planet they were currently on for another day and would have to pursue immediately. It was possible, depending on where the Sha'e headed, that the Prometheus might not have ended up going over the planet at all. Hammond had explained all this very patiently to Jack, who had sworn for a while before admitting defeat. Jack had been shadowing Hammond's doorway hourly ever since. Hammond wasn't sure he'd even gone home. He knew Sam was in her lab, as Jack would retreat there between trips to Hammond's office. Teal'c could also be found in either Sam's lab or down at the cafeteria.

Jack nodded now and disappeared, Janet watching his retreating back. "We're trusting a totally alien race to keep their word." Janet said, knowing that the Prometheus pursuing the Sha'e was a long shot and their best chance of getting Daniel back was for the Sha'e to stay true to their word and return Daniel when they verified that he wasn't of their race. _When _ they would get around to it was anyone's guess.

xxxxxxx

'Hello Daniel." The first voice Daniel had heard in two days had him looking up from the chair that was in the simple room he'd been placed in. He'd asked when they would perform their tests so he could go and had been told 'soon'. That had been when he was first brought on the Sha'e ship. He'd been waiting ever since. The presence of the speaker nearly made him fall off his chair. "Arie?" He exclaimed.

"Surprised to see me?" The girl smiled, dimpling prettily as she let herself into Daniel's room. She pushed the door shut behind her as Daniel rose from his chair. "Glad actually. I wasn't sure if you would have gotten out. I'm relieved they rescued you."

"I am too." Arie smiled. Something about her tone of voice and the way she moved made Daniel's hackles rise. He took a step backward as Arie advanced into the room. There was something horribly familiar occuring and his mind was clamping down on the possibility of...

"Very glad." Arie smiled as her voice deepened and her eyes flashed like lightning. The Gou'ld Aphaestus brought a hand wrapped with a ribbon device from out of the folds of her dress and held it aloft. "Because now I get to kill you myself."


	11. Beauty Chapter 11

Disclaimer - I do not own or operate any of the characters or events portrayed in Stargate SG1.

Chapter 11 - Healing

There was shouting and it was too loud. His head hurt and he just wanted the shouting to stop. He tried to make his vocal chords work and tell whoever it was that was screaming so near him to shut the hell up but it wouldn't work. He tried opening his eyes to _see_ who was doing all the yelling but he was just so damn _tired _that it felt like his eyelids had huge weights attached to them. It took him a little while but he finally recognised _who _was doing all the yelling.

It was Jack.

The shouting was shifting from being annoying and painful, to reassuring but he couldn't fathom why he should be glad of such a racket. Something, some small space in his mind was insisting that all the noise was a good thing, a great thing even. He just couldn't put his finger on why. He tried to bring the words into focus to work out why there was a tiny little spark inside him doing a happy dance at the sound and they slowly became understandable, like he was emerging from water.

"...and he could've damn well died! I don't know what those people were playing at but they used a friend of mine as bait and now they want us to _help _them!"

In his mind, he said something about Jack shutting up and why the hell was he here anyway when he was on an alien ship and a Goa'uld had just killed him but when the breath pushed passed his vocal chords, made its way up his throat and finally emerged from between his lips, only one word survived the journey.

"Jack." Daniel sighed, his eyes finally ungluing. He was only able to open them a crack because the light seemed to be blinding where he was. He was disorientated, thirsty and his head felt like someone had rammed a railroad spike through it but all he wanted to do was work out how Jack had come to be close enough to him to be heard when the last thing he remembered was a particularly resilient Goa'uld hitting him with a ribbon device while he was hurtling through space on an alien ship. His eyes opened a little wider and he was able to take in the fact that he was also in what looked like the SGC infirmary. Without his glasses, he was only able to see Jack when the Colonel came close to his beside and leaned down, a gentle smile on his face. "Hey Danny. Goodmornin'."

"Jack...what...?"

"Easy big guy. We're not too sure how much of the ol' bean you have left. How many times have you been brain fried by a Goa'uld anyway?" Jack was grinning so Daniel knew it wasn't a serious question but he furrowed his brow anyway. "Too tired to count." He grumbled. Daniel moved to roll onto his back and discovered anew that he couldn't. He tensed his shoulder muscles and could feel the wings move. "Ah crap." He sighed. He was hoping that his presence in the infirmary meant something had been done about his current predicament but it seemed not. He curled into a ball and dropped one of his wings over his head in a vain attempt to block out the world. He felt Jack insistently tugging the wing away from him. "No more sleeping." Jack said, his voice thick with command. Daniel knew that tone of voice worked a treat on Sam when she was being stubborn but it only made Daniel more obstinate. "Go away." He grumped and flexed the wing Jack was pulling, knocking the older man backward. Daniel smiled to himself.

Jack came around behind him and started pushing Daniel out of bed. Daniel's protests were heard by Frasier who came at the run. "Colonel, leave my patient alone!" She snapped, moving herself bodily between Jack and Daniel. Daniel had come out from underneath the wing and had been wrestling with Jack and gripping the bed to stop himself from being pulled off in turns. They were both breathing heavily and giggling like little girls by the time Frasier had arrived to separate them. "He's fine Doc." Jack said, reaching around her to tug one of Daniel's ears. Daniel was sitting up and scowled sideways at Jack as he was putting his bed back to rights.

"I was going to confine him to bed rest for a little longer." Janet sighed but knew her efforts to restrain Daniel would come to naught now that Jack had managed to snap him out of the funk he was in. Daniel was in the process of pushing away from the bed onto his feet as she said that and pulled the blanket from the bed to wrap around his bare chest. "You can do that later." Daniel smiled, dropping a light kiss on Janet's brow. Jack blinked as Janet flushed a brilliant scarlet.

"So, I heard you yelling." Daniel prompted as Janet beat a hasty retreat. Jack was still looking from Daniel to the retreating form of Frasier and back again, rubbing his head. He looked at Daniel. "What?"

"I heard you yelling about something and to someone. What was it about?"

"Ah, well, we were outside your room and I wasn't yelling. I was projecting." Jack said and Daniel grinned. He crossed the room and retrieved Daniel's modified shirt who accepted it gratefully and cast aside the blanket. "We have a few delegates from the Sha'e here in our fair mountain at the moment and-"

"Hang on." Daniel held up a hand. Jack's shenanigans and good humour had pushed something very important out of Daniel's head for a few moments. He looked around himself and then back at Jack. "How on earth did I get here?" He asked. His memory of what had happened was fuzzy but slowly coming back to him. He remembered an alien ship and one very hardy Goa'uld who had apparently been killed at the hands of Teal'c, a Goa'uld that Daniel had been very glad was dead. He realised he had again been stuck in a room alone with her and felt his skin grow cold at the thought. Jack's infectious upbeat attitude left him and he saw Jack's brow crease in worry, probably concerned from the range of emotion that played across Daniel's face.

"The Sha'e suspected one of theirs had been infected with a Goa'uld but apparently couldn't know for sure. They suspected the girl - "

"Arie."

"Yeah, her. They suspected her when she started claiming we'd kidnapped one of their guys. The Goa'uld didn't know that all the Sha'e had been present and accounted for. They'd found bodies with wings hacked off... suffice it to say it was a mess, but they were able to get a full headcount. They weren't sure why the girl would be so insistent but needed to find out why and also who she may have contacted. They thought you might have been a Gou'ald aswell and she was just trying to liberate you."

"When all along it was good old fashioned Goa'uld hurt pride that made her not want me to escape with my life." Daniel nodded slowly.

"Anyway, they put you in a room by yourself and then let her think she'd slipped away to visit you alone. They'd kept her busy for a couple of days so she wouldn't know she was made. They wanted to make damn sure you weren't a snakehead either. When she tipped her hand - "

"Tried to kill me."

"That too, they nailed her. Unfortunately they had to come through a locked door to get to you and she'd managed to zap you pretty good before they broke through. They then let the Prometheus alongside to board and let them take you. We thought we'd never see them again but we got a communication through this morning." Daniel glanced about himself and smiled to see his glasses on the side table of the hospital bed. He snagged them with his fingers and put them on, the world snapping back into focus. They were his spare pair so he assumed someone must have gone to his apartment to get them. The tiny consideration made his head hurt just a little less.

"What did they want?" He asked.

"They apparently snagged the surgeon when they raided the slaver's place. Some of the Sha'e had their wings removed but are still alive and wing donors are in short supply apparently." Jack explained, touching a hand to Daniel's wing. Daniel thought it the strangest thing that he could actually _feel_ Jack's hand. He kept thinking the wing something separate from himself, but the way it had been attached had made it as much a part of his body as anything. He was getting strangely attached to them but knew any chance at a normal life would mean he would have to get them removed somehow, and the surgeon was his best chance.

"What's the problem? I thought we wanted me back to boring old wingless Daniel." He said but Jack didn't return his smile.

"There's a risk of spinal injury, or worse. Apparently they'd tried to attach wings to slaves before. You were the first one to survive. It seems the removal process is more dangerous still."

"Ah." Daniel sighed heavily. "Ofcourse it is."

xxxxxxxx

"Its apparently the reason the Goa'uld only paid a deposit before the surgery." Sam said, standing in front of the interrogation room's two-way mirror. The current occupant of the room couldn't see her or General Hammond but he kept glancing at the mirror as if he could. It was unnerving Sam. The man was whip-thin and mean looking with a drawn-in mouth and cold blue eyes. It angered Sam just to think of him even touching Daniel, let alone cutting into him. He'd patiently and without protest agreed to perform the surgeries they'd ask for, and then in the same tone had explained the risks and passed deaths it had caused. The Airman that had been documenting that man's account had had to leave the room when the surgeon became graphic and enthused about the damage he had caused. He'd been alone ever since.

"I won't put someone at unnecessary risk, but I think this is Doctor Jackson's choice and he'd better make it soon. The Sha'e are demanding to have the surgeon returned to their custody if Doctor Jackson refuses." Hammond explained.

Sam nodded her understanding. They seemed to be between a rock and a hard place, but then she wondered, when were they not? Especially where Daniel was concerned. Nothing ever seemed to come easy and it was tiring. They'd thought it an unusually lucky circumstance that the surgeon was brought to them by the Sha'e but it seemed that luck was never on Daniel's side and the quick procedure they were praying for turned out to not exist. While the attaching of the wings could be done scar free, the surgeon had explained that he had not perfected the removal process to such a degree and even if the subject were to survive, he would be in for a painful recovery process and rehabilitation with the muscle and ligament damage the removal would cause. Jack had drawn the duty of explaining everything to Daniel. He'd grumbled but hadn't refused. They all knew that Sam would make it sound too clinical and Teal'c would state only bare facts. Only Jack possessed the ability to deliver unfortunate news without destroying someone's hope entirely.

"It is my choice and I'm going to do it." Daniel's voice issued from the viewing room doorway. He stood with Jack at his shoulder, looking grim. Sam could sense that the two men had been arguing, tension thrummed the air. Obviously Jack didn't want Daniel to take the risk and had been trying to talk him out of it. With Daniel and Jack, it managed to always escalate into yelling with neither backing down. When they worked together Sam envied the easy bond between the two, but when they butted heads she was glad she was on the outside.

"Are you sure son?" Hammond asked, looking equally concerned.

"Its either that or become some kind of science project or have to live my life off world. This is the only chance I have at a normal life again... as normal as it gets for me anyway. The way I am now, I can't even go home." Daniel sounded just plain tired and Sam felt guilty for thinking that the many and varied trials he had been through had been exhausting for _her_. She couldn't imagine what it would feel like on the inside. Daniel had every right to be asking the Universe 'why me?'. It seemed the more good he did, the more spanners fate through at his works.

"General -" Jack began to protest, but Daniel turned to him and put a hand to his chest.

"Jack, please. I need your support here. I'm going to need it afterward too from all accounts." Jack sighed heavily, but nodded his agreement. Sam could see from the tenseness in him that he wanted to argue further. One of the many factors that made SG1 so close was Teal'c, Sam and Jack's passion to keep Daniel safe. He would probably never realise just how much they cared for him and how much it hurt the times they had failed to do so. Sam looked at Daniel and saw something else cross his face. She realised Daniel would be getting the removal done not just for himself, but for them aswell. To have such a physical reminder of how he had been hurt while under their care would eat Jack alive, and probably her and Teal'c too.

Sam stepped forward and placed a hand on Daniel's shoulder. He turned and smiled at her. "I'll be fine." He said and she smiled back bravely.

Sam had heard those very words from Daniel before but it hadn't always been true.

xxxxxxx

_3 months later_

Janet Frasier relished the few minutes every morning when she could take her coffee out onto her balcony and watch the world drift by, putting all cares out of her mind. She sat on a deckchair; her feet propped on the railing and sighed. She would have to have a shower and get ready soon but for now, she was content to just sit. She reached one foot out and touched the cane that was propped against the railing. It was a thing of beauty, dark wood with a bone handle. What made it more beautiful to Janet was that it had been rendered useless. It was sitting out on the balcony because the user hadn't needed it for a few days now. She pushed it with her foot and it tipped sideways to the balcony decking with a clatter. A smile touched her face.

The smile grew wider when she felt warm hands drop onto her shoulders. One hand snaked down and tried to snag the coffee cup from her hands but she pulled it out of reach with a giggle. "Hey, get your own bucko." She laughed. She heard a sigh from behind her and then Daniel dropped into the deckchair next to hers. He'd winced when he'd sat but Janet knew that it was only a dull ache that troubled him now and that would soon be gone too. "Hated that thing as much as me huh?" Daniel said, gesturing at the fallen walking stick. Janet nodded, handing over the coffee cup. Daniel grinned at her gratefully and accepted it, taking a long draft and slumping further into the chair before passing it back. "How - " Janet began but Daniel cut her off.

"No being the Doc today. It's your day off. Just assume I'll tell you if anything's bothering me." Daniel admonished, knowing Janet was going to prod him about how he was feeling. "Ah, I got a call this morning. The Sha'e delegation is coming through today. We both have to go in." Janet said and Daniel groaned. He reached across and Janet thought he was reaching for her coffee and made to pass it back but he waved her off and instead his hand circled her forearm, thumb brushing the soft skin. "How long have we got?" He asked, his eyebrows rising.

"Not long enough if we both want a shower." Janet said, laughing.

Daniel mock-scowled. "Party pooper." He said. He stood, stretching and Janet heard a faint crack. He looked back at her and grinned sheepishly. "I'm starting to sound like Jack in the mornings." He said, rubbing a hand through his hair. Daniel leant down and retrieved the walking stick. He wasn't wearing a shirt and Janet saw the two faint scars under his shoulder blades. Apart from a few twinges and some lingering stiffness, they were the only evidence that Daniel Jackson had once had wings. He turned back to her. The phone shrilled into life in Janet's bedroom and Daniel crossed back inside to retrieve it. Janet turned back to the outside world as she heard the murmur of Daniel's voice. "Yeah...half an hour...no, I swear...Honestly, half an hour...well...yep...that would be good. See you soon Jack." Daniel came back out onto the balcony. "Jack's picking us up." He said. Janet had placed her coffee cup on the deck chair arm and Daniel grabbed it and drained it.

"Hey!" Janet protested, knowing that she should've guessed her coffee wouldn't be safe.

"I'll buy you one on the way." Daniel grinned. Janet let Daniel pull her to her feet. He pulled her into a hug and she returned it, squeezing him tightly to herself, her fingers tracing the faint raised skin of his scars. He lifted her off her feet and she laughed. Janet had enjoyed the time Daniel had been restricted from going off world, but she knew that time was coming to an end and she would have to start worrying about him again.

For now though, she was content to let Daniel carry her inside, both of them forgetting about the shower.

Jack was right.

They were going to be late.


End file.
